Ino: Shippuden
by PandaBot3000
Summary: Three years after the Fourth Shinobi War, the ninja world is still struggling to deal with the losses of friends and comrades. Join Ino Yamanaka as she takes on her first genin team, dealing with missions, training and the expectations of an alliance with the Sand that hinge on one of her students. Rated for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1 - Meet and Greet

_Pandabot: Well, here I go again. I've been wanting to write a Naruto story for a while now but I didn't really have any idea of who I wanted to use. After attempting a god-awful thing about Shikamaru that fell apart faster than I wrote it I went back and read most of the manga. Immediately, Ino sprang out. I love this girl in the original series and they make her so lame in Shippuden, like a watered-down Sakura. With that in mind, I sat down and wrote this chapter.  
I rather like it and after getting a few more chapters done, I decided to post it on here for you to read. So, read, review, tell me what you love, what you hate, what makes you nauseous. I know it's a slow start but just bear with me here as we delve into Ino: Shippuden!_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Meet and Greet**

"Stop whining, Shikamaru!"

The dark-eyed ninja sighed heavily as he was pushed steadily along the hallway by a stubborn blonde, a girl he had known most of his life.

"What would Temari say if she saw you slacking off like this?". Shikamaru knew exactly what she would say, followed shortly by a whack over the head with her fan no doubt. He sighed,

"Troublesome women". He was met with a light slap on the back before he felt the pressure on his shoulders again, shoving him towards the classroom. There was a long pause as he began to make his own way there, feeling the pressure decrease as he matched speeds with his troublesome companion.

Ino slipped alongside him, flipping her blonde bangs away from her eyes and looking up at him through her fringe.

"When's Temari visiting again?" she asked softly. Shikamaru shoved his hands into his pockets and blew air out through his lips,

"She doesn't know yet. Gaara's keeping her pretty busy". Ino watched him for a second, studying his expression; to anybody else it might have looked bored but she had known him for a long time.

"I'm sorry, Shikamaru" she said quietly. He merely grunted, pulling a cigarette out of his vest and flicking his lighter. Ino pulled a face but allowed him to light up and take a drag before she spoke again,

"Can't she take a permanent Ambassador position here?". He grunted again, taking another drag, and giving a shrug.

"Gaara tried but the Sand Council say they can't spare her unless they get someone of equal value," he sneered, "Guess who they wanted". Ino shook her head in annoyance; politics getting in the way as usual. The thought put another idea in her head,

"What about a political marriage?". Shikamaru shot her a look; it was meant to be threatening but it just made Ino laugh. He pulled a face at her and rubbed the back of his head,

"I asked that once. She hit me" he said with an embarrassed look. Ino shook her head in disbelief,

"Shikamaru, you don't suggest that to your girlfriend," she sighed, "It's not exactly a romantic proposal" She glanced quickly out of the window as they passed and groaned,

"Dammit, Shikamaru. We're so late. You and your damn clouds". She shoved him down the hallway again, causing him to drop his cigarette to the ground with an angry exclamation,

"Come on, hurry up, lazyass". He grumbled the rest of the way down the hall, Ino dragging him by his sleeve, until they reached Room 109, the classroom of the graduating class. Ino reached out and pulled open the door with an apologetic smile,

"Sorry we're so late. I had to get this lazyass up" she said, jerking her thumb at Shikamaru over her shoulder. It was suprisingly bright in the room and it took Ino a few moments for her eyes to adjust.

There were six young faces looking back at her and Shikamaru, frozen in place; it appeared as though two of the boys were in the middle of a fight, held apart only by a small girl with long black hair that reached down to her waist and a lithe boy with grey hair that spiked in the back.

"Hey! What the hell is going on in here?" Ino snapped, glaring darkly at the group stood in the centre of the room. As one, the group seperated and stood apart, eyes directed to the wooden floors; Ino sighed heavily.

"Alright, let's start this again," she said, taking a deep breath and forcing a smile back to her face, "Sorry we got here so late, you can blame this guy". Again she jerked her thumb over her shoulder at Shikamaru who was still stood next to the doorway, arms folded.

"So," she started, looking around, "Where's team four?" Quietly, nervously, three of the genin stepped away from the others; Ino was pleased to see that the two who had been stopping the fight were on her team. She studied her team closely, eyeing them up with a practiced eye.

The boy with the grey hair looked lithe and tough, much like a feline of some description; probably a taijutsu specialist. He wore the standard Leaf Village vest with dark pants and a dark long-sleeved shirt with a red headband; Ino couldn't help but think he dressed an awful lot like Shikamaru.

The next one in line was the other genin who had been stopping the fight; she looked much more delicate than the boy with long, black hair that reached down to her hips. She peered shyly out from beneath a sweeping fringe that covered her right eye. She was the most colourful of the group, decked out in short blue dress with a split on the left side of her legs. Underneath, she wore black shorts with mesh that reached below her knees; her shins were covered by boots.

Ino almost gasped as she turned to the last one in her team; she was almost a carbon copy of a young Temari, right down to the eye colour. She wore a long white robe, tied tightly around the waist with a red tie. She wore shorts, the same as the other girl's, but she wore bandages that reached down, stopping just short of her knees. She held a closed hand fan loosely in her hand.

_They all look pretty capable_, she thought, feeling absurdly pleased with herself; she didn't even know if they were actually any good yet. She turned to see Shikamaru eyeing up his own team; he really couldn't look any less enthusiastic.

"Well, let's get out of here" Ino said, turning around and heading towards the door; she paused as she passed Shikamaru.

"Hey," she said quietly so only he could hear, touching his arm gently, "don't get so down. You'll figure it out". He grunted as she stepped past, leading her team silently out of the room.

* * *

"So...you guys are team four"

She had led them silently, walking up to the roof of the Academy and motioning for them to sit down across from her. Now she faced them, eyeing up her team again; she noticed them shift uncomfortably under her gaze.

"So, why don't you tell me about yourselves?" she suggested gently, allowing her features to soften into a friendly smile. The grey-haired boy in the middle glanced either side of him, at the uninterested Temari clone on his left and at the incredibly shy girl on his right, before he spoke up.

"Uh, I'm Kazuki of the Rakuden clan" he paused, looking at Ino uncertainly; he clearly didn't know how to continue. She sighed heavily, _I hope they aren't going to be this awkward for long_.

"Alright," she sighed, "Why don't I go first?". She judged the group's silence to mean that they agreed so she sat back and folded her arms.

"My name is Ino Yamanaka of the Yamanaka clan. My specialty is my Mind-Body Switch Jutsu so I specialise as a spy and interrogator" she paused, biting her lip as she thought.

"Hmm, I was awarded a medal for my participation in the Fourth Shinobi War's conclusion and was named a Jounin at the same time. Right now, I guess my goal is to train you guys so that you can handle yourselves in any situation. Anything else you'll probably find out at some point" she said, tilting his head backwards to look up at the gazebo roof above her head.

There was a long pause as Ino stared upwards, a strange sort of smile on her face; finally, she sighed.

"Are you guys gonna start or what?". She turned her gaze on the genins, who were all staring at her silently; with a blush the girl with long black hair cleared her throat.

"Uh, um. My name is Yomiko of the Nagashi clan," she began in a soft voice, "and Iruka-sensei said that I am a genjutsu user". She straightened her shoulders and raised her head, green eyes piercing into Ino,

"My goal is to awaken my clan's secret jutsu and become a powerful kunoichi". Ino studied her carefully for a long second, noting the fire that had ignited in her eyes when she brought up her clan.

_Interesting. She's the same but different from Sasuke,_ Ino noted, _There's no hate there. Still, gotta be careful_. She felt a flare of hatred that she was careful to hide; it wasn't directed at the girl after all - no need to burden her with that.

"Genjutsu, huh? That can be very helpful" she commented with a smile. She turned her gaze onto the boy who was staring with admiration at Yomiko.

"Alright, Kazuki. What about you?" He turned away from Yomiko with a light blush and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment,

"Oh, right. Um, I'm Kazuki Rakuden and I specialize in my clan's taijutsu but I kinda suck at the other stuff" he blurted, almost stumbling over his words; he clearly had a lot of energy to burn. He paused, and glanced to his right again; Ino frowned slightly, _All taijutsu, huh?_

"My goal is to bring my clan back to it's prime and make us a force for the Leaf again" he said with a self-conscious grin. Ino nodded silently; she had heard of the Rakuden clan and it's decline.

"Ok, good. And now for the last one" she said, turning to the clone of Temari. There was a long pause as the girl sighed and straightened up slightly, exaggerating each movement as though it caused her great effort.

"I am Kana Sunia," she began, her voice the epitome of disinterest, "and my family moved here from Sunagakure last year". She began to twirl her closed hand fan distractedly,

"I use wind-style ninjutsu like Temari-sensei of the Sand and my goal is to one day be just as good as she is" she said, watching her fan twist and turn over her fingers. She looked up at Ino's chuckle, eyes narrowed.

"I should've known you were Temari's student" Ino laughed with a shake of her head. Kana glared at her for a long moment and Ino thought she had better explain.

"You look and act exactly like Temari when I first met her" she said and watched Kana's gaze turn from angry to curious.

"Ok," Ino said, clapping her hands and sitting forward, "from now on, we are team four. We'll train together, go on missions together; sometimes we'll eat together too". She paused, watching the way the genin glanced at each other uncertainly.

"Tomorrow," she began, drawing their attention back, "we're going to do a training exercise, see how you three work together. Got it?". When the three nodded, looking a little uncertain, she smiled, standing and stretching a little.

"Good. So meet at Training Field Six at nine tomorrow," she turned to go but paused and turned her eyes back onto them, "Don't be late". Then she was gone, leaping across the rooftops of the Leaf Village as fast as she could move.

She was so late.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late, Kurenai-sensei" Ino panted as she ran into the graveyard, bouquet of flowers in hand, spilling petals onto the dewy ground in her wake. Dark hair swished as Kurenai turned away from a familiar stone, the same sad smile on her face; the same one she always wore when she visited him.

"Ino," she murmured, "it's good to see you". She turned back to the polished grave, arms folded tightly around her body. Ino laid her bouquet down on the stone and stepped back to Kurenai's side, hands clasped before her.

"Asuma-sensei," she began, "I finally received my own team today". She paused, taking a deep breath and allowing a small smile to cross her face,

"One of them looks just like Temari. You should've seen Shikamaru's face!". She gave a small chuckle;

"You would've laughed" she said sadly. There was a second pause as Ino wiped a tear away, remembering the man who had taught her so much, who had given her so much. The pair stood for a long time, merely remembering Asuma Sarutobi. Finally, Kurenai spoke gently,

"How is your team?". Ino shrugged uncertainly,

"I don't really know. They seem capable at least and they all look pretty level-headed". Kurenai smiled knowingly at her answer, almost a smirk.

"You know, not many people know this," she started, "but Kiba and Shino _hated_ each other when I first started training them; I'm pretty sure Hinata is the only one who kept them from killing each other". She turned her red eyes up away from the grave and stared up at the grey clouds fighting for position above.

"Apparently Kiba thought Shino was a 'heartless bastard who didn't care about the team' while Shino thought Kiba was...well...insane". Ino couldn't help but laugh at that; Kiba had always been intense to say the least and to call Shino reserved was the understatement of the century.

"I didn't know about any of this until Hinata told me". Ino shot her a suprised look; Kurenai had always seemed like one of the best sensei the Leaf had to offer.

"You are a jounin and that's going to intimidate these kids into behaving themselves when you're around," she turned to Ino with a serious expression.

"The best way to see how your team behaves is to spy on them; you'd be suprised to know how much you can figure out just by how they stand together". Before Ino could answer, Kurenai crouched and brushed her hand gently across the carved stone, clearing the few leaves that had fallen.

"I'd better get home to little Asuma," she sighed, standing, "Shikamaru's watching him for now but I promised I wouldn't be long. You coming along?".

"No, I think I'll stick around for a little while" Ino answered quietly. Kurenai glanced across the graveyard before returning her red eyes to the blonde kunoichi with a soft smile,

"Of course. Remember what I said, ok?". When Ino nodded, she turned and walked away; eventually the graveyard fell silent again save for the wind.

She smiled again and moved away from Asuma's grave; she still had one more to visit.


	2. Chapter 2 - Training Pains

_Panadbot: I figured I may as well put up my first (mini) fight scene while I'm uploading the story, just so people can get some sort of idea of whether they like my writing or not. You know, review and junk. Peace._

* * *

**Chapter 2: Training Pains**

When Ino arrived at training field six the next morning, she did not announce herself immediately. Instead, she hid in the branches of a tree that overlooked the field and watched the way her team interacted with each other when she wasn't around, like Kurenai had suggested.

She was interested to see that Kana stood a little apart from the others, eyes closed in bliss as she drank in the sunny morning. Yomiko was sitting, arms wrapped around her legs, staring at the ground between her feet; her black hair hung over her face like a veil. Kazuki was bouncing on the balls of his feet, looking much more confident then he had yesterday.

Ino narrowed her eyes as he began to practice kicks and punches, lightning fast attacks that were just about visible to her practiced eye. She was busy admiring his speed when she noticed Yomiko raise her head, peering shyly through her fringe at the young man; apparently he had another admirer.

"Will you cut that out?"

Kana had apparently had enough of Kazuki's practice, and had whipped around in anger. Ino couldn't help but marvel at how much she acted like Temari. Kazuki immediately flared up, turning to the blonde with an angered expression;

"Just because I kicked your ass in taijutsu classes, Kana" he sneered. Kana merely laughed in his face, taking a step closer,

"That's all you can do, stupid. A true ninja is a master of ninjutsu as well" she spat. Yomiko leapt between them as Kazuki took a step closer and their yelling voices overlapped each other in a cacophony of noise. Ino sighed,

_Kana and Kazuki don't exactly get along, huh? I should probably step in before they actually fight each other_.

She leapt down from her branch, landing silently about ten metres away from the shouting group,

"Good morning". The trio froze in their tracks, both Yomiko and Kazuki turning red with embarrassment; Ino was interested to see that Kana merely looked annoyed. She raised an eyebrow,

"It's good to see you getting along so well" Ino said dryly, folding her arms calmly. Kazuki and Kana seperated awkwardly and lined up next to Yomiko, facing Ino and very pointedly ignoring each other. Ino watched them for a long second before she sighed, running a hand through her hair,

"Geez, I guess I have to do something about this" she grumbled. She tugged at her ponytail absently,

"Yomiko," she barked suddenly, startling the dark-haired girl, "you're neutral here. What is going on?" The girl looked either side of her shyly before she brushed her hair away from her face,

"I don't...I don't really know, Ino-sensei" she said softly.

"Don't give me that crap," Ino snapped angrily, "take a damn guess!". The trio flinched at Ino's sudden burst of anger and even Kana looked ashamed at her behaviour; finally, Yomiko spoke.

"I think that Kazuki is jealous of Kana's wind jutsu and how well-rounded she is already," she said, again showing that juxtasposal confidence that Ino had originally connected with her clan.

"Also, I think that Kana is annoyed that Kazuki is so much better than her at taijutsu when she beats him at everything else" she continued with that same burst of confidence, remaining unflinching when Kana shot her an angry look. Ino shot a look at the pair, noting that neither of them contradicted Yomiko on either point.

_Smart girl_, Ino thought, glancing appreciatively at the dark-haired genin. It was obvious that Yomiko was going to be the calm one of the team, the one who glued the proud Kana and the hyperactive Kazuki together. Ino sighed heavily, turning her gaze to the heavens,

"Jealousy, huh?". Still staring up at the clear sky she spoke again,

"Do you know how the teams get split up the way they do?" she asked, seeming to almost talk to herself, echoing Asuma-sensei's explanation from so long ago. There was a pause as Ino waited for someone to answer. Finally, Kazuki ventured a guess, drawing Ino's gaze back to her team.

"So that the weaker shinobi can learn from the stronger ones?"

"No," Ino answered firmly, "The teams get split up to balance the particular abilities of each shinobi" she continued, enunciating her words clearly.

"So you, Kazuki, get paired with Kana and Yomiko because you specialise in taijutsu. Having you engage enemies in close-range allows you and you," she pointed at Kana and Yomiko, "time and space to perform your ninjutsu and genjutsu. Understand?" She watched as Kana and Kazuki glanced awkwardly at each other and decided to drive the point home.

"Even Naruto Uzumaki isn't good at everything. He needs back-up like the rest of us" she prompted gently, holding back a grin as she remembered how useless Naruto had been at the Academy.

To the newest generation of shinobi, Naruto was the hero of the Leaf, both for his triumphs against Pain and how he affected the Fourth Shinobi World War; apparently Iruka had been having great success using him as an example in class. Ino supposed it was only natural that the younger shinobi would look up to him; nominated for Hokage at his age was a hell of an achievement.

"Is that true, Ino-sensei?" Kazuki asked curiously, apparently forgetting his quarrel with Kana for the moment. Ino shrugged,

"Sure," she said, "He never did manage to get the hang of genjutsu". As though summoned by their conversation, a familiar voice interrupted,

"I hope you aren't talking about me again, Ino". Ino didn't even turn, keeping her gaze on her team as she answered,

"I just like telling people how useless you are, Naruto". She heard him laugh before he stepped around her, waving happily at her team. He turned to Ino and produced a small folder filled with paper,

"I'm delivering the exam results for all the new genin" he sighed. Ino laughed as he pulled a face, gesturing at the pile of folders tucked under his arm; her laugh turned into a frown as she properly faced him, taking in the new outfit.

Instead of the old orange jumpsuit he used to wear, he wore a much more subtle combination of white pants, a bandage wrapped tightly around his right leg, with a long-sleeved black shirt with a zip. Not to say that there was no orange at all; he wouldn't be Naruto if there wasn't. He wore a long cloak over the top with short sleeves that was mostly orange with black flames lining the bottom and sleeves. He had even let his hair grow a little so it hung over his head band in it's customary spikes.

"Pretty fancy clothes there, Naruto. You come up with that all by yourself?" she mocked, secretly impressed. He pulled a face, glancing down at his attire.

"Granny Tsunade said I need to dress better if I'm gonna be Hokage," he said, embarrassed, "Shizune and Sakura came up with this last week". Ino looked him over again, aware that he probably needed his mind set at ease.

"Well," she said, "speaking as a woman, it's definitely better than what you normally wear. Much more impressive" Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a laugh,

"Thanks Ino" he said awkwardly, looking away to study Ino's team. He gave them a grin and thrust his hand out giving his flamboyant thumbs-up.

"You guys become awesome ninja!" he yelled with his customary energy, blowing all of the bad feeling between the team like only he could. Ino shook her head in disbelief,

_Only you, Naruto_, she thought, admiring his easy way - everything was so simple for him. He turned back to her, catching her staring at him, his cloak swishing out behind him,

"I gotta get out of here and finish delivering this stuff," he said awkwardly, "I'll see ya later, Ino". Just as suddenly as he had appeared, he was gone, leaping up into the trees and speeding away through the branches.

"Wow, Ino-sensei. Are you friends with Naruto?" Ino turned back to her team to see Yomiko and Kazuki staring at her in open admiration; even Kana was hiding her awe behind a poorly constructed mask of boredom. She shrugged casually,

"Yeah, I guess. Naruto's a pretty easy guy to like" she said calmly. Kazuki practically exploded getting his next point out,

"But it sounded like you know him really well, Ino-sensei!". Ino ran a hand through her hair again, tugging awkwardly at her ponytail,

"We were in the same class in the Academy, and we've worked together before, so yeah I know him" she said. There was a long awkward moment as her team stared at her in admiration and Ino didn't know what else to say. Eventually, Ino began to leaf through the folder of their results, just for something to do.

_Nothing too suprising,_ she thought, _pretty much what I expected_. She glanced up to see that her team had become less starry-eyed,

"So if you're finished worshipping Naruto, maybe we can get to training, yeah?" she said sarcastically. As she had known it would, her tone jolted them out of their reverie and fired them all up, ready to go.

"So," Ino said with a smirk, walking past her team towards the two logs that served as taijutsu training posts, "let's talk about what you have to do today". She was aware of her team following her quietly, staying the same distance behind her the whole time. She reached the posts and dropped the folder between them.

"You have to hit me" she said, spinning around and pulling a kunai from it's holster in a lightning fast motion. Her team exchanged uncertain looks at her stance.

"What do you mean, Ino-sensei?" Kana said, easing her hand-fan from it's pouch and sliding away gently. Ino grinned at them, shuffling into position uncertainly,

"If you land a hit on me than you complete this training session," she said simply. She held up a finger as they glanced at each other uncertainly again,

"One word of advice. If you don't take this seriously, you won't even get close to me. Use every trick you have and you might just get me" she warned. She swung her gaze across her team,

"Ready?" As her team nodded uncertainly, taking a stance, Ino immediately analyzed their stances and what clues it gave about their abilities. Kazuki - low, balanced forward, hands wide spread; he was clearly all speed and attack but would struggle defensively. Kana - stood upright and side-on, one hand on her fan, the other out of sight by her side; she would try to attack from cover and stay hidden. Yomiko - interesting stance, stood straight on, hands already together in a chakra focusing seal, eyes focused on Ino's hands; she would probably sit off and pick her moment to land a genjutsu.

"Go!"

* * *

_Well at least they know how to hide_.

Ino had been standing in the same spot for the last twenty seven minutes, according to the clock she had set up on one of the training posts. If she was honest with herself, she had expected the genin, particularly Kazuki, to have tried an attack by now; it seemed like the new generation were a little more patient than hers.

Her team wouldn't know this, in fact only about ten people did know, but she had spent the three years since the war ended training herself in taijutsu and sensory ninjutsu. They had seemed like two of the most important skills for a jounin to possess if they were training a team.

She remembered speaking to Kakashi before she accepted a squad role; after all, Team Seven had spawned the hero Naruto and the traitor Uchiha. He had plenty of advice for her, most concerning how to deal with the impatient ones; she smiled as she thought of Naruto's sudden growth into the 'hero of the Leaf'.

Her eyes rolled to the left as she felt a chakra signature enter her range, moving quickly through the trees right to the edge of the surrounding trees. She smiled appreciatively at the positioning - just behind her field of vision, good.

There was a flash of motion, a rustle of branches and she spun, kunai held defensively in her hand. Kazuki was already there, crouched low, a puff of dust billowing under his feet. Ino dropped her kunai as he jumped, swinging his leg round in a high kick; no need to cut his leg off.

_Dammit, he's fast!_

Ino barely caught the kick, twisting it away and blocking the punch he threw wildly over the top. Catching his fist, Ino threw him away, watching him flip away with a disappointed groan.

"Not bad" Ino said with a smile, sensing another chakra signature approaching from behind her. Kazuki looked past her for half a second then threw a kunai directly at her; Ino sighed at the obvious ploy. She flipped backwards, kicking the kunai upwards and jumped over the dark-haired form of Yomiko that had leapt behind her, hand outstretched.

Ino caught the back of the genjutsu type's dress, pulling her in and wrapping an arm around her neck; there was already a kunai held to her throat. Ino sighed, catching the grey-haired boy's eyes.

"Too obvious, Kazuki. Don't look directly at your support, it will get someone ki-". Ino's eyes widened and she jumped, pushing Yomiko away from her with her feet and forcing herself backwards. The two seperated, Yomiko stumbling forward, and a second later a tunnel of wind bored through the empty space.

Ino rolled over, already in position to move or block again, and almost froze in shock at the state of the ground where the attack had landed. The ground had literally been shredded in a small area, the dirt broken into tiny rocks that piled away to the right; Ino turned her gaze furiously to where she knew Kana was hiding.

"Kana," she roared, "Get your ass down here, right now!". She must have been quite an intimidating figure, because neither Kazuki nor Yomiko thought to launch an assault while her back was turned.

After a long moment, Kana dropped from the shelter of the trees and stood, arms folded defensively. Ino beckoned her silently over with a hand and a glare, watching quietly as the girl walked over.

"Look over there", Ino said sweeping her hand in the general direction of the broken ground. Kana didn't bother looking; she knew what her attack could do. Ino took a deep breath, closing her eyes to calm herself,

"Can you even guess why I'm so pissed at you, right now?" she asked slowly. Kana shrugged like a child,

"'Cause I almost got you" she suggested with an arrogant little smirk. Ino eyes narrowed darkly,

"Don't flatter yourself," she snapped. "I'm pissed because if I was an enemy, I would have just turned Yomiko and that attack," she spat, flinging her arm back where the ground was torn up, "would have ripped her apart".

There was a long pause as Ino and Kana stared at each other; Ino could almost read Kana's disinterest in her eyes. She sighed heavily; it seemed that Kana was going to need some real work until she felt herself a Leaf shinobi, nevermind a part of team four.

"Practice over" Ino said firmly, turning away from Kana and heading back to the practice posts where the folders lay. Kazuki and Yomiko gave exclamations of dismay at the short practice but Ino shot them a look that shut them up.

"Ino-sensei," Kana began, "Why are you calling off practice?". The blonde jounin whirled around in fury, fists clenched,

"Because I don't trust you! You almost _killed_ your teammate, and you don't even care!" she snarled. There was another awkward pause as Ino and Kana stared at each other, Ino practically vibrating with anger, before she turned away in disgust.

"I'll find you guys when we have training again" she said, picking up the folder and leaping away into the trees before they could get an answer in.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Price We Pay

_Pandabot: In one of the reviews, Zerojackson mentioned something that gave me pause for thought. Apparently it doesn't come across in my writing how little Kana cares about her teammates, which is a failure on my part. The whole attack thing was **not** planned by the team, it was an independent attack by a reckless, arrogant little girl.  
__I wasn't expecting any reviews yet actually, especially ones that genuinely taught me some grammar. Hopefully the grammar's better now. Zerojackson thanks for the lesson and the review and indigo yamanaka thanks to you too. Anyway, I just finished a later chapter so I figured I'd match that with posting an earlier chapter. Anyway, there is some angst here but it's setting the scene so, you know, it's fairly important. Read and review y'all!_

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Price We Pay**

"So Ino, how's your team going?"

Ino stabbed viciously at her meal, impaling a piece of her salad on the end of her fork. Hopefully, that would answer the question well enough to deflect any more questions on the subject. She should have known better, really.

"That bad?" Kiba asked with a grin; Sakura gave him a slap on the arm to shut him up.

"What's wrong, Ino?" She glanced up from her food, looking around the table at the few who had been free to meet for lunch today. Kiba had just returned from a long, difficult tracking mission and was still off-duty until Sakura gave him the go-ahead; that was why she was able to be here at all. Tenten and Rock Lee were both free and gave her encouraging smiles (though Lee's was more of a manic grin than anything else); Hinata shifted quietly.

"Kana almost killed Yomiko yesterday," she admitted, "I wasn't exactly soft on her." Sakura winced and the whole table grew a little more somber; Hinata caught Ino's eye with a soft, supportive smile.

"Well, that should be it now, right?" Kiba suggested, recovering quickly to bite at the large plate of meat in front of him with almost obscene gusto. Hinata tilted her head and spoke,

"It isn't though, is it?"

_Stupid, smart Hinata_, Ino grumbled to herself, placing her fork down ever so carefully. She wasn't really suprised; even without the Byakugan, Hinata had always been the most perceptive of the group. Ino shrugged,

"Kana didn't care. At all" she said simply. Rock Lee, typically, practically exploded out of his seat in a gesture of disbelief.

"That is impossible!," he cried, "No one filled with the power of youth could ever not be concerned about a precious teammate!" Tenten grabbed him by the collar and dragged him down into his seat again with an exasperated sigh; she didn't even bother reprimanding him anymore.

Hinata's smile had completely disappeared along with Sakura's and Kiba's as they watched Ino shake her head sadly. Hinata spoke up eventually,

"Have you taken them to go and see the graves?" she asked softly. Ino shook her head firmly,

"I want them to earn that" she answered quickly. Hinata gave her a look,

"Maybe it's just what Kana needs" she said, sounding suprisingly beyond her years. After a pause, she gave a smile to the blonde kunoichi,

"You know I'm right, Ino." Ino sighed, standing from the table and turning to leave. "Whatever."

It's not like she was hungry anyway.

* * *

She found Kazuki exactly where she expected to find him, training against the posts outside the Academy. She watched him for a short time, eyeing his footwork and his strike points; he was actually a little wild with his movements, much different to her own precision brand of taijutsu.

"Kazuki." He landed a final kick and turned as she approached, giving a short bow,

"Good morning, Ino-sensei," he said pleasantly, "Are we training again today?" Ino smiled and shook her head,

"Not today. I have something I want you all to see. Know where the others are?" Kazuki thought for a moment, eyes unfocused and staring past her.

"I don't know about Kana but I think Yomiko will probably be drawing," he said, "She likes to draw stuff when it's nice out." Ino let a smile cross her face as he mused over his own comment, staring past her. He seemed to come back to himself as Ino stepped past him, heading towards the post he had using to practice.

"You're pretty fast for your age, you know?" she said, stretching her arms out with a roll of her shoulders. She span and shot a high kick at the post, impacting with a thud at the exact point where a head would be.

"But that speed kinda throws you off" she commented, turning away from the post. Kazuki frowned,

"What do you mean, Ino-sensei?" Ino gave him a look then turned and unleashed a kick faster than anything Kazuki could unleash, halting her leg an inch from the pole and holding her form perfectly,

"Sometimes you need to hold back." Kazuki stepped up next to her and fell into his stance.

"But, Ino-sensei," he said, unleashing a blindingly-fast kick at the pole; the wood splintered under his kick, "why do I need to hold back? Iruka-sensei said that not giving my all could get me killed."

Ino sighed, he was right and wrong in equal measure but it wasn't his fault; Iruka should have elaborated. She pulled her leg away from the pole slowly, staying under perfect control,

"Ugh, dammit Iruka" she grumbled. She came back to her ready stance, gathering her thoughts.

"Well, that's sort of true," she began, tugging at her ponytail again, "But there are times when we aren't aiming to kill."

"Sometimes," she said softly, "We just want to capture." She fell silent, staring at the pole in front of her intently.

"I don't get it, Ino-sensei." She turned to him with a smile and shook her head,

"You will. Just practice a little control from now on, yeah?" At his nod she turned away,

"Come on then, let's go find Yomiko."

* * *

It took less time than Ino expected to find Yomiko, sitting in the shade of a large tree on the outskirts of the village. As Kazuki had predicted, she was sketching, a thick pad of paper resting against her thighs, hair hanging over her face. She looked up with a smile as Ino and Kazuki dropped from the trees, side-by-side.

"Hello, Kazuki, Ino-sensei" she said softly, laying her sketch pad gently to one side and folding her hands in her lap. She was wearing the same clothes as yesterday and appeared unruffled after her near miss with Kana.

"Hiya, Yomiko!" Kazuki said loudly, waving quickly and bouncing over to her tree. He hovered awkwardly around her as she stood slowly from her position; Ino frowned as she caught the glimpse of a grimace on her face.

"What's the problem, Yomiko?" Yomiko shook her head silently, hiding her face behind her hair; with a guilty glance at her, Kazuki turned to Ino.

"It's her back, Ino-sensei" he said, ignoring the glance that Yomiko sent him. Ino sighed heavily, remembering how she had kicked Yomiko in the back to move her out of danger. She opened her mouth to speak, then paused as a familiar chakra signature entered her range.

"Let's see then" she sighed, starting forward and reaching back to rummage in the pouch she kept belted at her hip. Yomiko stepped away from the tree and reached up to her shoulder, wincing in pain as her back tensed; Kazuki stumbled backwards and span around, his face turning bright red.

Ino sighed at his expression; she could remember the exact same thing happening with Shikamaru and Chouji the first time she got hurt. With a little stab she remembered Asuma-sensei forcing them to turn around, to get used to her; _How embarrassing_, she recalled thinking.

"Kazuki," she said firmly, "turn around now." She kept her eyes on Yomiko as she slipped her dress off her shoulders, turning around so that Ino could see the purple bruise blossoming across her back. Ino glanced back at Kazuki and gave an irrated growl at his back,

"Kazuki," she snapped, "I said turn around." He shook his head firmly,

"Ino-sensei, I will not take advantage of Yomiko" he said valiantly, sounding extraordinarily like Rock Lee. He almost turned around as Ino laughed,

"You're in a team full of girls, Kazuki," she laughed, "At some point you're going to see someone naked - a little bit of back isn't gonna hurt anyone." She turned back to Yomiko and produced a small pottle of cream from her pouch as she ran her fingers gently over the bruise. She smiled as she heard rustling and an awkward cough from Kazuki.

"Ouch," she commented, brushing Yomiko's hair to the side so she could see better, "That actually looks pretty bad. Does it hurt much?" Yomiko shook her head and jumped as Ino pushed her dress down a little more, checking how far the bruise extended; she covered herself modestly as the dress bunched near her waist.

"O-only when I lean on something or stretch too much" she squeaked, adjusting her hands awkwardly. Ino turned back with a smile of approval to Kazuki, his face bright red but, to his credit, he refused to look away and kept his focus on the bruise on her back.

Ino dipped her fingers into the pot of cream, developed by Shizune specifically for muscle injuries, and gently spread some across Yomiko's bruise; the girl jumped with a stifled yelp as the cream touched her back. Ino bit back a grin, focusing on the bruise,

"Oh yeah, it's cold" she said cheekily. She noticed the chakra signature edging closer and spoke again,

"This is why we don't attack teammates" she said bluntly, watching as Yomiko nodded. When she rubbed enough in, she laid her hand flat on Yomiko's back and channelled a small surge of chakra into Yomiko's bruise. Yomiko, suprisingly, purred under her hand as the cream amplified Ino's chakra, effectively healing her bruise; again, Ino had to bite back a grin.

"Ok," she said, cutting off her chakra and slapping Yomiko gently on the back, "that's that. So gather up your stuff and let's move out. I've got something to show you." She stepped away as Yomiko awkwardly pulled her dress back into position with a wiggle and a tug, playfully tapping Kazuki on the head,

"Wake up, sunshine" she said as he recoiled, giving her an aggrieved look. She gave a quick glance into the trees but, as she expected, she couldn't see anybody. She turned back to face her team,

"Come on, you two. We're heading to the graveyard. We're bound to find Kana on the way."

* * *

As Ino had expected, the chakra signature followed them the whole way to the memorial, staying out of sight the whole time. She paused on the roof of a building overlooking a wide space full of clean stone slabs spaced regularly.

Yomiko and Kazuki stopped next to her, their eyes widening as they saw the sheer amount of graves; Ino merely looked sad. As they dropped down to ground level, Kana stepped silently from the shade of building, giving a short acknowledging nod to Ino. Yomiko almost jumped out of her skin while Kazuki merely looked like he'd eaten something unpleasant; neither said a word, cowed by the nature of the graveyard.

"Come on" Ino said quietly, leading her team through the wrought iron gates and into the grassy gravesite, moving gracefully. She led her team silently through the mass of stone slabs, allowing the atmosphere to talk for her; finally, she stopped in front of one. After a long pause, staring silently at the grave, she knelt and touched the cool slab, brushing a few stray leaves from it's surface.

"This is the grave of my former sensei, Asuma Sarutobi," she began softly. "He could be impatient with us, and he could be harsh on us but he loved us." She wanted to glance at her team's reaction to her impromptu speech but couldn't tear her eyes away from the grave.

"He proved that over and over again, and never more so than when he was resurrected and we had to fight him." Out of the corner of her eye, she could just see Kazuki shoot her an awkward glance, like he wanted to say something but he didn't know what. She smiled,

"He was a great teacher; he taught me how to be a ninja and a woman and he taught how to balance the two. Most importantly, he taught me how to protect the ones I love." There was a long pause after she fell silent; Yomiko broke it, beginning to make her own statement but Ino cut her off.

"Ino-sensei..."

"I will protect you and train you as well as Asuma trained and protected me," she said, raising her head and turning blazing eyes onto her team, from Yomiko standing demurely on her left, past Kana standing quietly on the opposite side of the grave, to Kazuki stood awkwardly on her right.

"That much I promise you" she finished firmly; for the first time, Kana caught her eye and held it with an understanding gaze instead of her usual bored disinterest. Ino took a deep breath,

"There's someone else I want you guys to see" she said, with far more conviction than she felt, turning and leading them back through the graves. She led them back towards the entrance and stopped three rows from Asuma's grave; this time she didn't even glance at the grave.

"This grave belongs to..." her voice hitched; she took a shuddering breath and tried again.

"This grave belongs to Chouji Akimichi" she said quietly, keeping her gaze firmly in the distance. She waited a second for her team to look at the grave before she spoke again,

"He was murdered, right in front of me, by a traitor of the Leaf Village" she said, grinding her teeth in fury. Her team tore their gazes from the grave as she spoke one more time,

"My old teammate, murdered." This time when she turned her gaze on her team her eyes didn't blaze, they swam with unshed tears but, behind that, they also burned. Kazuki spoke up hesitantly,

"Ino-sensei...how did he die?" Ino paused, looking closely at her team then looked away with a sigh,

"...Yeah, ok. I'll tell you" she said softly, gathering her thoughts.

"So, you guys know that Naruto Uzumaki and Kakashi Hatake, alongside Gai and Killer B, finally managed to kill Obito and Madara Uchiha and stop their plan to put the world under an infinite genjutsu, right?"

Her team agreed and Yomiko offered the next part of the story,

"And then Sasuke Uchiha, the greatest traitor in the history of the Leaf appeared and fought Naruto and lost" she said confidently. Ino smiled sadly,

"That didn't happen straight away," she said quietly. "When Sasuke showed up, Naruto was pretty much dead on his feet and Kakashi was unconcious. It was all Gai and Killer B could do to get them away from him. So we stepped in." Her team looked up at her in awe as she began to tonelessly describe the scene,

"Sakura was healing Naruto as quickly as possible, drawing on the chakra of pretty much everyone around who could spare some. There were quite a few shinobi there so she had enough to work with but no time. That's when we showed up. Me, Shikamaru, Chouji and Hinata. Everyone else was off helping the wounded so we organised ourselves as best we could and Shikamaru started planning some way to slow Sasuke down." She sighed sadly,

"We didn't have any time for that but we couldn't just throw ourselves at him either. That would be suicide. So, Chouji did the obvious thing, and created a diversion." She swallowed hard and continued speaking in a toneless voice.

"He and Hinata went straight at Sasuke and fought him head-on," she shook her head slowly, "They never had a chance but Chouji was a lot faster than he looked and Hinata was smart. They actually held him off for more than five minutes before he lost his temper. Shikamaru had just thought of something and he caught my attention when we heard it". Tears formed in her eyes but she plowed on through, forcing the words past the lump in her throat.

"It was the most...most _wrong_ thing I've ever heard. We looked back and there was Chouji, impaled on Sasuke's sword, just...just _hanging_ there." She wiped her eyes furiously, turning her blurred gaze to the grave.

"He didn't scream, he barely made a noise. He just _punched_ Sasuke and something in Sasuke snapped and...he...he"

"Sasuke Uchiha used his most powerful jutsu to set him on fire and left him to die in agony" a soft voice interrupted as Ino lost her voice completely. The genin whirled around to see Hinata Hyuuga stalking towards them, a compassionate expression on her face.

"He came after me next," she mused thoughtfully, reaching across to pull up her right sleeve, "I think I was very lucky". Kazuki gave an involuntarily yell, Yomiko put her hand over her mouth and even Kana looked sick.

Half of Hinata's arm was gone, cut off just below the elbow, and the rest was so horribly burned that it was merely the black skeletal husk of what once was. It wasn't hard to imagine what had happened but if this was Hinata, then Chouji must have been revolting.

Hinata let the sleeve drop again, releasing the genin from it's horror as she turned her gaze onto Ino,

"Ino Yamanaka forced her mind into Sasuke's body and held him for fourteen minutes. That is the only thing that saved me. We would have killed him then, but he managed to activate his Susano'o, his ultimate defensive jutsu and we couldn't break through it. Her father said that for her to hold someone of such immense chakra for so long was incredible and she received a medal for bravery and resilience in the face of a much stronger foe." Hinata turned with a soft smile to Ino's team, noting how sick they all looked,

"Ino is a hero and is well worthy of being your sensei. Never forget that." She turned her gaze back to the blonde kunoichi,

"Never let _her_ forget that." With that, she turned to leave, gliding through the graves, for all the world appearing to be a normal woman under those long sleeves. There was a long, awful silence as the genin avoided each others glances.

Kana looked at Ino, really looked at her for the first time as she stared, unseeing at Chouji's grave. After a long moment, Ino turned from the grave and met Kana's eyes with a strange smile.

"Ino-sensei?" the blonde girl ventured awkwardly, "Were you and Chouji...?" Ino couldn't help but laugh, as serious as the atmosphere was.

"No, we were never together," she said with a smile, "He was a good friend, probably the most loyal friend I've ever had, but we were nothing more." There was a long pause as Ino took a deep breath, clearing her eyes with a quick swipe. She turned and swept her arm around at the rows of graves,

"I brought you here for a reason," she said softly, "All of these graves are shinobi who have died for the Leaf Village." She turned back to her team, with a sharp look,

"_All_ of them are heroes, no matter the circumstances of their death" she said firmly. There was a long, dramatic pause as she caught the eye of each of her genin; an atmosphere that was utterly shattered as Ino's stomach gave a loud rumble.

The tension broke immediately and they all laughed as Ino rubbed her stomach ruefully; she never did get to eat lunch. She was suprised to hear Kana's musical laugh; a huge contrast to her ruthless attitude. With a glance at the sky, Ino guessed that it was near enough to dinner;

"How about we go and get something to eat?"


	4. Chapter 4 - Training Redux

_Pandabot: Well, I'm getting some reviews for this thing. This is very good news. Divine Psyche brought up the naming conventions thing about Japanese naming (in which the last name is spoken first). My rebuttal to that is that I'm an anime baby. It just naturally comes to me that the first name comes first. Also, if you aren't caught up with the manga, it might be a good idea to do that because I'm using stuff from the advanced mangaverse (up until about Chapter 600 I think). Anyway, here comes another one, heavy on the fighting and stuff so read, review and I'll keep writing. Thanks y'all!_

* * *

**Chapter 4: Training Redux**

"Ok. Let's try this again."

Ino eyed her team carefully, ensuring that they didn't jump her while she was still talking.

"So, to change the rules a bit, you have until 12 o'clock to land a hit on me," she explained, motioning behind her to the clock set on top of training post, "That gives you...three hours." She grinned in anticipation - this was going to be fun.

"Ready?" Her team readied themselves with little shuffling movements.

"Go!"

Ino span gracefully out of the path of three kunai, almost token attempts, as they jumped into the surrounding trees, hiding themselves well. Ino smiled as she extended her chakra out and followed their signatures as they grouped together to her left.

_Planning this time, good_, she thought appreciatively, slipping a hand into her shuriken holster and leaving it there; nothing like a little uncertainty. With any luck, it would slow Kazuki down when he inevitably went for her.

She stood patiently, waiting for her team to make a move; she knew Kazuki was too impatient to wait for long. As she waited, she let her mind wander to the day before, taking her team to go and visit the graves of her former teammates. She had been surprised at their attitude at dinner that night, particularly Kana. She had actually joined in conversation, made an effort to make herself a part of the team.

It had been later on that night that Ino had properly looked through their Academy notes, taking what she already knew and adding the observations of Iruka. She hadn't known that Kana had been bullied in her first year, probably due to her family's connection to Sunakagure. It explained her attitude.

She also hadn't known that Yomiko suffered from disabling headaches when she overused her chakra or that Kazuki struggled to control his chakra at all. It was all good information, the kind of thing she really needed to know if she was going to protect her team.

She came back to herself as she noticed the three chakra signatures split apart, two moving carefully to the very edge of the trees while the other circled around slowly to her other side, ensuring to stay well within the cover of the trees.

She expected them to do the same as before, Kazuki lead the charge and Yomiko backing him up while Kana would sit tight and wait for her opportunity. All she had to do was keep ready for Kazuki and she could probably handle anything they tried.

She spun as Yomiko leapt from the trees, hair streaming behind her; she flew through a quick series of seals.

"Fire-style! Phoenix Bloom Jutsu!"

A group of small fireballs exploded from her mouth and split apart over a wide area; Ino frowned as Yomiko threw her hands out, face creasing with concentration. The fireballs turned in mid-air, twisting towards the ready Jōnin as Yomiko impacted with the dirt.

Ino kicked off the ground, dancing away from the flames as they impacted around her; with a flash of motion, Kazuki was suddenly there, using the attack to shield his approach. He swung a kick towards Ino's head, she easily managed to duck under his foot and sweep his foot out from under him.

"Wind-style! Razor Gust Jutsu!"

_What?!_ Ino's eyes widened, even as she flipped backwards away from the downed Kazuki. From above, a small scythe of air cut through the space where Ino had been; it splashed against the ground harmlessly.

Kana continued her flip, landing just behind Kazuki her hand fan open and ready. Ino considered hitting one of them with her jutsu but it wasn't necessary. Not yet, at least. Instead, she reached into her pouch and removed two smoke bombs.

She disappeared behind the puff of smoke, focusing her chakra into one of her newest jutsu.

"Water-style," she whispered, "Water Clone Jutsu." She threw two kunai and, while her team were preoccupied with dodging or blocking her weapons, she leapt out of the smoke screen and hid among the trees. At the same time, she directed her clone to go on the attack.

She watched carefully as her clone engaged Kazuki, swaying around his punch and catching his arm. She noticed Yomiko readying an attack and watched as her clone threw Kazuki at her, sending them both to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

With a yell, Kana slid under the water clone's kick and came to her feet with a twist, turning her elbow into the clone's head. It exploded in a rush of water and Ino had to smirk at the astonished expressions on her team's faces.

"Water clone!" Kana shouted warningly, "She's watching us!"

_Smart girl_, Ino thought appreciatively, eyeing her target as he scrambled to his feet, eyes flying all around. She settled her back firmly onto the trunk and quickly tied her legs to the branch she was on.

"Alright," she whispered, "Let's see how you handle this." She quickly ran through a string of familiar hand seals, ending by staring through her hands at Kazuki. She felt the familiar empty feeling as she left her body and sped across the intervening space to Kazuki's body.

She felt the usual jolt as she took control of Kazuki's mind, looking through his eyes at Yomiko and Kana, the wind-style user soaked with water. Kana was still ordering them to gather together and Yomiko was just placing her back to Kana's.

No need to give them a warning, Ino thought. She sent Kazuki sprinting forward, grinning at his pace; he really was fast. Kana turned and Ino practically saw the wheels turning in her head, saw the realisation take place.

_Too late_, she thought grimly, sliding to a stop next to Yomiko and throwing her leg up as fast as Kazuki's body could handle. Yomiko saw the leg come up, attempted to duck out of the way; _too slow._

Ino felt a slap on Kazuki's leg, throwing his balance completely as his leg was pushed too high to connect with Yomiko's head. Kana, instead of trying to block or catch Kazuki's leg, had merely pushed his leg up with a quick strike.

Ino kept Kazuki's body in motion, using his swinging leg to twist his whole body and bring his other foot off the ground in a sweeping back kick, aimed at Yomiko's head.

In her own body, Ino would have connected, but Yomiko had just enough time to duck under the blow, leaving Ino swiping at thin air. Ino span and twisted away as Kana flicked her hand fan at her; she barely managed to avoid the burst of wind that erupted. Ino shot Kazuki's hand out and grasped Kana's wrist, squeezing expertly to force the hand open.

Aiming to take Kana out first, as the fan clattered to the ground, Ino sent Kazuki leaping after her, readying his fist to finish her off; Kana grinned and twisted. Her other hand shot out and Kazuki's eyes widened in suprise; _Two?!_

The second hand fan, that Kana had kept concealed until that moment, shot out and Ino, unable to move Kazuki's body out of the way, released the jutsu. She returned to herself just in time to see Kazuki landing awkwardly ten feet away from the wind kunoichi.

_How clever_, Ino considered thoughtfully, measuring her next few moves carefully. She had apparently underestimated Kana; just like Temari had been, she was a step above her compatriots. She didn't really want to get caught up in an extended battle out in the open. Eventually one of them would get her.

She watched as Yomiko and Kana conferred on something, Kazuki moving slowly and carefully back over to his teammates, trying in vain to spot her. There was no warning as Kana spun, wielding both of her fans and shouting out.

"Wind-style! Razor Whirlwind Jutsu!" She swung her fans together and twisted them just before they touched, sweeping them across each other. A tunnel of wind, like the one she had unleashed two days ago, exploded outwards, aiming at Ino's hiding place.

_Dammit!_ She leapt away, sensing the jutsu miss her by a fraction as it tore the trees to pieces. She landed cautiously on another tree branch and looked back at them; Yomiko's eyes were following her every move.

_Sensory ninjutsu, huh?_ Ino smiled ruefully. _No point hiding then_. She flipped out into the open, a kunai held lazily in one hand,

"Not bad, you three. Especially you, Kana. Very impressive." Ino could hear them conferring with each other, planning their next move; it was a good job she wasn't a real enemy, she mused. She certainly wouldn't stand there patiently while they planned.

To their credit, it only took them a few seconds to come up with the next attack. Kazuki leapt forward, Kana and Yomiko circling around to either side. Ino dropped into a more ready stance as Kazuki threw his hands together, forming a chakra-focusing seal as he ran. Yomiko and Kana threw a kunai and this time Ino didn't move, keeping her eyes on the approaching Kazuki. She snatched the kunai out of the air with a lightning fast movement and threw them at Kazuki.

He slid under the weapons and came to his feet next to the ready Ino, hands still together and body crouched low. He grinned.

"Lightning Barrage!"

Kazuki disappeared from sight for a split second then reappeared at head height, his whole body leaking blue chakra, leg already drawn back to kick. Ino barely managed to get her arms up in time, blocking the impossibly fast kick with her crossed forearms. She was sent sliding back from the force of the kick as Kazuki disappeared from view again.

"The hell?!" she grunted as Kazuki appeared behind her, arm already drawn back in a punch. She half-span, throwing a hand out and deflecting the punch past her head. Kazuki disappeared again and Ino, off-balance, was forced to spin away from the two kunai launched at her by Yomiko and Kana.

_Dammit!_

Kazuki was suddenly above her, leg raised and ready to drop on her head with devastating force. Ino managed to half-catch the kick and turn it away to the side, rolling away from another pair of kunai that stuck into the dirt where Kazuki had been moments before. He reappeared above Ino again, hand cocked and ready to strike.

She backflipped away, barely dodging the attack as he slammed his fist into the dirt, causing a wave of dust to blow out from the impact point, momentarily blinding her. Ino leapt away from Kazuki's last position and slid to a stop, arms raised and ready.

There was a long pause as she waited for the next attack but, when the dust cleared, Kazuki was crouched in the crater, panting heavily. Kana and Yomiko leapt to his side, taking up defensive positions as he caught his breath, hand planted on the dirt to steady himself.

Ino shook her head in admiration of Kazuki's technique and stood up straight, reaching back behind her head to tug at her ponytail. She smiled at the uncertain looks her team gave her.

"Well, I call that a win," she said casually, stretching her arms out above her head. Her team practically growled at her and she threw her hands out defensively, realising what she had actually said.

"Oh, right, sorry. I meant that you guys passed," she said with an embarrassed grin. Her team looked uncertainly at each other.

"But, Ino-sensei," Yomiko spoke up, "We didn't manage to hit you". Ino shrugged.

"Well, I didn't expect you to. I _am_ a Jōnin, you know?" she said casually. She rolled her shoulders and glanced ruefully over at the genin that were relaxing cautiously,

"I'm surprised I actually had to put that much effort into staying ahead," she admitted. She turned to the trees and shouted out,

"And don't think I didn't notice you in there! Get your butt out here!" With a flash, Naruto leapt from the trees and landed in front of Ino with an apologetic grin and a soft thud.

"Heh, sorry. Granny Tsunade said that you haven't given any indication if you're passing your team or not so she sent me out here to watch". Ino shook her head with a short laugh,

"Well you can tell the _Hokage_," she said, stressing the title, "that Team Four has officially passed!" She glanced around to her team as Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly; the genin were still stood uncertainly were she had left them.

"Oh for the love of-," she muttered in annoyance, "Oi! Will you relax! You. Have. Passed". She threw her hands up in the air as the team glanced at each other, uncertainly lowering their guards.

"This is not an elaborate trap!" she cried, "Just go home already!". Kazuki scratched his head and said something quietly to Yomiko and Kana; they nodded and shrugged indifferently respectively. Naruto shouted out just as they looked to leave,

"Wait!".They paused and glanced over,

"You have to meet at the Hokage's office at nine thirty tomorrow morning," he said quickly. Ino turned to them,

"Don't be late." she said sweetly, ushering them away with a flick of her hands. As they leapt away, she turned back to Naruto with a raised eyebrow,

"I highly doubt that the Hokage told you to come and watch us train," she accused, poking his chest with a finger, "so spill it." He shrugged and looked over her head.

"I'm meant to be checking on Kana Sunia's progress. It's very important that she does well." Ino frowned as she turned around and began to make her way back to the training posts where she had left the timer clock,

"Because of the alliance?"

"Yeah. We can't afford to screw this up," Naruto answered, his tone deadly serious. Ino knew what he meant; though most of the lands were at peace after the end of the shinobi war, for a lasting peace to work they had to integrate the lands together as much as possible. Of course, Gaara was the first to agree to a 'shinobi exchange', as it were; his and Naruto's friendship was the real driving force behind the call for permanent peace.

"Well, if it answers your question, she's the most capable of team four," Ino said slowly, turning to the blonde-haired Hokage-Elect, "and she's way better than we were at their age." Naruto nodded slowly,

"I thought as much. Just gotta check, you know?" Ino nodded and reached up behind her head to release her ponytail; it had gotten loose and uncomfortable in Kazuki's last attack. She rearranged her ponytail again and glanced up to see Naruto looking at her with a strange expression,

"What?" He shook his head,

"I've never seen you with your hair down before. It's weird," he said vacantly, glancing up at the sky. He shot his gaze back down to the blonde-haired Jōnin.

"Hey, what are you doing right now?" he demanded sharply. Ino shrugged, shoving the clock into her pouch and adjusting her ponytail,

"Nothing, I guess. I was just gonna go home and re-read my team file". Naruto nodded,

"Let's go get something to eat," he said quickly, seeming distracted, fidgeting awkwardly. Ino tilted her head to the side, allowing a languid smirk to cross her face.

"Why, Naruto," she purred with practised ease, "Are you asking me out on a date?" She winked and put her hands on her hips, subtly throwing her chest out. That move always had the boys drooling; _Too easy_.

Except that it didn't work.

"Na," he said easily, "but I'm meeting Sakura and Sai for lunch and it's really weird with just them." Ino shook her head with an understanding expression; that particular pair had caught everybody by surprise. She wasn't even aware that Sai was capable of emotion.

"So basically," she began, faking a look of hurt, "you're just using me to avoid being the third wheel?" She pouted, half-turning away so that her bangs covered the majority of her face; _this _has _to get him_.

"Oh, uh, no. I mean, uh, I'll...buy you lunch?" Naruto interjected uncertainly, one hand flapping around madly. Ino hid a smile; _got him_.

"Ok, I'll come and be your fourth wheel, you baby," she said brightly, grabbing his wrist and pulling him away from the training posts; he barely had time to protest at being yanked around like a doll.


	5. Chapter 5 - A DoubleDate?

_Pandabot: Welp, here's another one. This one has absolutely no action whatsoever but it's semi-important because it launches the side-arc involving Naruto and Kakashi. And, you know, character development and junk. Anyway, read, review and (hopefully) enjoy._

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**Chapter 5: A Double...Date?**

"Hey, Sakura! Sai!"

Spying a familiar pair, Ino and Naruto dropped from the roof of the Akimichi eatery where they had been waiting patiently, making small talk. Ino had been surprised at his attitude these days; he was so much mature than she remembered him being.

"Hello, Naruto. Hello...ugly, " Sai greeted in his usual clueless manner. Ino didn't even bother to hit him anymore, it wouldn't change him and she wasn't so insecure these days. Sakura merely gave him a light slap and sent a smile the way of the other pair,

"Hey, you two. Shall we go in?" Naruto led the way into the restaurant, weaving easily through the crowded place to find a table where they could sit, Ino merely ducking into his wake. She knew that Sai would follow as easily as Naruto moved so she didn't need to worry about them keeping up; she just kept her focus on the back of the idiot who had grown into the most powerful ninja of the Leaf.

It was amazing really, she mused, how he had risen so quickly to become such an insanely powerful shinobi, driven just by his will to succeed in his self-appointed goals. He was such an inspiring presence, young and energetic, powerful and skilful; the perfect candidate for Hokage.

She was jolted out of her reverie as a hand grasped her wrist and yanked her into a booth with a sharp tug. Pulled off her feet, she ended up sprawled across Naruto's lap, her back uncomfortably tight to his abdomen.

"Geez, you idiot Naruto!" she snapped, shoving herself off his lap and slapping him across the arm. She folded her arms and looked away in annoyance,

"You better not have asked me here so you can feel me up." She almost wavered as Naruto stumbled awkwardly over an apology but then Sakura and Sai appeared out of thin air next to their booth. As they slid onto the small bench on the opposite side of the table, Sakura looked between them with a smirk, noting Ino's annoyance and Naruto's ineffectual apology.

"Lover's tiff?" she mocked with an irritating little smirk. Without really thinking about it, Ino shot her foot out and kicked Sakura in the shin; she actually hit her a little harder than she had meant to.

"Ow! What the hell, Ino-pig?!" she shouted, drawing the eyes of half the restaurant to their booth. Ino merely shrugged, Sakura should really know better by now. The pink-haired kunochi shot a glare at her boyfriend,

"Don't you have anything to say about this?" she snapped angrily. The pale boy thought for a moment, looking between the two girls and then glancing down at Sakura's leg.

"Good shot," he said blankly, causing Ino and Naruto to try, unsuccessfully, to hide their laughter and Sakura to give him another light slap. Sai just looked confused. Luckily, they were interrupted,

"Mr. Uzumaki, sir! It's an honour to have you here in our humble restaurant!" Next to their table was a young boy, maybe twelve years old, reading from a small piece of paper; Ino had to fight to control her giggles. This was literally the cutest thing she had ever seen.

"What would you like, sir?" He pulled out a little pad of paper with a little pencil and stood ready to take their order. Ino and Sakura glanced at each other with identical expressions of glee; he was so adorable!

"We'll just get the Akimichi special, thanks. For the table," Naruto answered promptly, giving Ino and Sakura odd looks. The boy jotted something down quickly and dashed away, disappearing into the crowd immediately. As soon as he was gone, and she had recovered, Ino turned and gave Naruto a hard look,

"Did you seriously just order meat for me?" Naruto ignored her for a second, reaching across to accept a pot of tea that a pretty young waitress had brought over; typically, he completely missed her blushes as he thanked her.

"Well, yeah," he said, speaking to Ino as he poured tea for everybody, "this restaurant doesn't really do a whole lotta other stuff." He placed the teapot down and looked around to see Ino eyeing him suspiciously.

"Are you trying to make me fat?" she accused, eyeing him darkly. Naruto held his hands up defensively, beginning to panic under her accusatory gaze,

"No, no! I like your body!" he blurted out.

There was a long, deadly pause as the implications of his statement sank in; Naruto's eyes widened in horror as he realised what he had said, to Ino of all people. Even Sai seemed to realise the seriousness of the moment as he shared a concerned glance with his girlfriend.

"What did you just say to me?" Ino said her voice dangerously low, hair hanging over her face ominously. Naruto stumbled to come up with an explanation.

"I-I meant that, uh, you should be, uh, proud of your looks and, uh..." he stammered, holding his hands defensively in front of him, looking desperately at Sai and Sakura for aid.

"I believe the phrase is to 'quit while you are ahead'," Sai offered, keeping a wary eye on Ino; it wouldn't do for the next Hokage to be murdered after all. Naruto clapped his mouth shut and offered Ino a weak grin as she turned to him, glaring furiously; her eyes suddenly changed as she looked above his head.

As the others turned to look, they saw what had caught her eye, a small plaque above Naruto's head:

_This table is dedicated to the memory of Chouji Akimichi,_ it read, _who died bravely defending his comrades from the traitor, Sasuke Uchiha._

There was a long pause as Ino turned from the sign hurriedly and stared down at the table; she hadn't known that the Akimichi clan had done this - though she had to admit, it suited them. Naruto turned back to Ino, lost for words,

"I..." He glanced at Sakura and Sai for help but they shrugged uncertain looks on their faces. Everyone knew how hard she had taken Chouji's death, how she blamed herself for not saving her friend. Which was ridiculous really, even Sakura had said that there was no medical ninjutsu that could have saved him.

"Do you want to move tables?" he suggested, leaning down so he could look under her hair to see her face. Ino shook her head,

"No," she answered firmly, "It just...caught me by surprise is all" There was another long pause as Naruto looked at her, uncertain what to say. Finally, he smiled to himself,

"So, anyway...about your body." he said in his best impression of Jiraiya-sensei. Ino immediately flared up and turned her furious gaze onto him,

"You damn pervert!" she snapped, drawing back a fist to deck him. Luckily, he was Naruto, not some clueless civilian. When she threw a punch, he easily caught it and Sakura decided to join in the teasing to help Ino forget the plaque.

"Aw, look!" she said mockingly, nudging Sai with her elbow, "They're holding hands!" Ino's head snapped around to the pink-haired kunochi,

"Oh, you bitch!" she snapped lashing out with a foot. She just barely missed Sakura's leg but, before she could wrest her fist out of Naruto's hand and take another shot, the pretty waitress returned, laden under a pile of sizzling meat on a thick wooden platter.

"Awesome!" Naruto said enthusiastically, drawing the table's attention to the food as he let go of Ino's fist cautiously. The waitress blushed again as she caught Naruto's eye and then scurried away; Ino and Sakura shared an amused look.

Silence reigned over the table while they dug in; despite Ino's protests, she was actually a fan of this restaurant. She just didn't visit very often because of her diet. After a while, Sakura motioned towards Ino with her chopsticks,

"Oh yeah, did you take your team to go see them?" she asked curiously, picking up another piece of the sizzling meat. Ino nodded shortly,

"Yeah, Hinata was right. It really helped," Naruto gave Ino a curious look,

"Who'd you go see? And why?" Ino shot him a look, pretending to still be upset by his perverted comments; in all honesty, it wasn't anything she hadn't heard before. It was actually much more polite than the things she was used to hearing, if she was being honest with herself. She shook herself from her mini-reverie,

"I took them to go and see Asuma-sensei and Chouji," she said quietly, playing with her chopsticks to avoid meeting his eyes. He gave a soft 'oh' of understanding and turned back to his meal. Silence fell across the table as they concentrated on their meals though Ino noticed that Sakura and Sai had intertwined their fingers and rested their hands on the table.

Sakura caught Ino's eye and motioned over to Naruto, raising her eyebrows in a question. Ino shook her head slightly, giving a short slashing gesture with her free hand. Sakura raised one eyebrow and tilted her head side-to-side as thought doubting Ino's answer. Ino shook her head again and motioned first at Naruto and then at Sakura and Sai's joined hands, ending by pulling a face.

Sakura laughed out loud, attempting to cover the outburst by coughing daintily into her hand and utterly failing as Sai and Naruto gave her odd looks.

"Sorry, I just, uh," she began. Ino cut her off, smiling sweetly at Naruto,

"She's just laughing at how uncomfortable you are around her and Sai," she explained motioning with a finger to Sakura and Sai. Sakura giggled again as Naruto ducked his head, embarrassed at being called out so plainly by Ino. She rolled her eyes and slipped out from the bench,

"Come on then. Let's leave the lovebirds alone" she said, grabbing Naruto's wrist and yanking him, none too gently, from behind the table.

"But I haven't finished eating!" he complained pathetically. Ino shot him a severe look,

"Well I have, and you promised to buy my lunch, pervert. So tough luck" she said, yanking him away and waving to Sakura. She pulled him, still grumbling about his lost lunch, through the crowd until they reached the counter where she shoved Naruto forward so he could pay.

"Mr. Uzumaki!" a loud, jolly voice cried, "You don't pay here, my friend!" Ino turned to see a fat man, very clearly an Akimichi, laughed jovially and waving away any attempts by Naruto to pay for the meal. Naruto glanced back at her flicking his eyes subtly towards the man; she stepped to draw his attention off Naruto.

"Oh, my," the man said, slapping his belly happily, "If it isn't Ino Yamanaka. You know, Chouji always spoke very highly of you, my dear." Ino smiled and bowed slightly, keeping her eyes on Naruto as he sidled past the fat man,

"He was a good man, Mr. Akimichi" she said placating. Naruto slipped some bills onto the small counter and gave her a thumbs up, sliding back past the owner of the restaurant.

"That he was, dear, that he was," he rumbled, slapping his belly again. Naruto bowed low as he sidled back into view,

"Thank you for your hospitality," he said stiffly, "The food was great." He turned and caught Ino by the arm, pulling her away as the man thanked the Hokage-to-be. He pulled her outside, pushing free of the milling crowds and sighing in relief as he released Ino's arm, slipping into a side-street across from the restaurant.

"You can't keep dragging me around everywhere," Ino complained, rubbing her arm thoughtfully where his fingers had dug in painfully, "It's bad manners to manhandle a lady." There was a long pause as Ino approached him from behind.

"Naruto?" He half-turned, looking back over his shoulder, with a strange expression.

"Oh, uh, sorry Ino." She stepped forward, noting the tightness in his shoulders and the tension in his body,

"Naruto? What's wrong?" she asked softly. He turned around slowly, still with the same strange expression on his face. Ino couldn't figure out what the expression made her think of, a ridiculous concept; a highly trained spy, unable to read a simple facial expression!

"It's nothing, Ino. I'm just tired," he said blankly. As though on cue, Kakashi Hatake flickered into view, his usual book held loosely in his hand.

"The Hokage wants to see you, Naruto," he said lazily, actually taking his eyes off his precious book for a couple of seconds to catch Naruto's eye with an apologetic expression - at least as close as he ever came to having an expression.

"Ugh," Naruto groaned, "Already?" Kakashi turned his attention back to his book and shrugged.

"You don't have to go," he mused, seemingly to himself as he flipped a page. Naruto just shook his head,

"I have to if I wanna be the greatest Hokage ever," he said and Ino couldn't help but notice that the fire that usually lit such statements was gone. She frowned as Kakashi nodded in understanding,

"A wise shinobi strengthens his weaknesses," he mumbled, turning another page. Naruto sighed heavily,

"Right." He looked back at Ino with a grimace,

"I've gotta go do a thing. Thanks for your help, Ino." Before she could respond, or even blink, Naruto was gone, bouncing over the roofs and leaving Ino standing with Kakashi in the side-street. He gave her a short nod before he disappeared as well.

_Geez,_ Ino mused, turning to head back to her apartment, _What's up with Naruto?_


	6. Chapter 6 - C-Class Mission!

_Pandabot: Just a short little update here. It's the beginning of my first mini-arc, one that I enjoyed writing immensely. Hopefully y'all will enjoy it too. You know the drill; read, review and be awesome._

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**Chapter 6: To The River Country! C-Class Mission!**

_So, we're finally getting a C-class._

Ino smirked, eyeing the details of the new mission carefully; her team was sure to like this one. She glanced up at Kakashi, the older jounin eyeing her knowingly; she was sure that his old team would have loved this one too.

She winked at him and turned away from the long bench where Kakashi, Tsunade, Shizune and Naruto where handing out missions. Ino had to laugh at the expression on Naruto's face; he couldn't look any more bored if he tried and Tsunade wasn't much better.

"Ino-sensei, what's the mission today?" Ino turned to the enthusiastic Kazuki, a smile on her face but, before she could answer, Kana cut in lazily,

"Why do you care? It's just gonna be something stupid." Yomiko turned to Kana with her hands on her hips,

"Don't say that! We are helping out our village by performing these missions!" she cried. Ino watched on curiously as Kana turned to the smaller girl with a smirk; Yomiko immediately lost her bluster.

"Helping out the village by finding a missing bird? I don't think so somehow," Kana said bitingly with a hint of amusement. Watching, Ino was reminded of how strange her group's dynamic actually was. Kazuki was the same as ever, but over the past two months, Kana and Yomiko had become pretty close; Kana was a good influence on the shy girl.

"If you'll stop talking for two seconds," Ino began with an amused smile, walking past her team, "and follow me, I'll tell you about our new C-class mission." As soon as she finished speaking, Kazuki was bouncing along next to her, babbling questions; she didn't need to look to know that Kana would be playing it cool, swaggering along in her wake and Yomiko would be trailing the group, head down.

"Kazuki, take it easy. You're gonna give me a headache," Ino sighed, placing a hand firmly on the top of his head and holding him in place for a second. She led them out of the Hokage Tower, weaving easily through the various chuunin and genin teams that were milling around.

"Ino-sensei, can you tell us about our mission now?" For Yomiko to speak up first was rare to say the least; she must be really excited by the new mission, Ino thought. Ino turned and was met by the eager eyes of her team - she couldn't help but laugh aloud.

"Yeah alright, come over here." She led them a short way away from the Tower, leaping easily over the rooftops, finally settling on a roof that came complete with a little gazebo and a clear square of stone. It was one of Shikamaru's many cloud-watching spots, though he didn't frequent them too often anymore.

Her team followed her onto the rooftop, lining up stiffly; Ino sat down on a low bench with a confused frown,

"Geez, why are you guys so serious? Loosen up," she said lazily, deliberately antagonizing them. Maybe Kazuki would explode if she made him wait long enough, that could be fun. She hid a grin as she unfolded the mission request slowly and carefully, taking her time in re-reading the details. Kazuki gave a strange kind of half-whimper, half-growl and she relented, turning amused eyes to the impatient genin.

"Alright, alright," she said, "Our mission is to wipe a group of bandits that have been cutting off our trade route with Sunagakure somewhere in the Land of Rivers." She eyed them as Kana and Kazuki exchanged excited glances; she was entirely unsurprised as a frown crossed Yomiko's face.

"Wouldn't this normally be a B-Class mission?" she asked uncertainly. Ino fought the urge to roll her eyes; it would probably do irreparable damage to the girl's confidence.

"Normally, yes," she explained calmly, "but the merchants who have been robbed say that there are only five or six bandits involved. I could handle that myself so the Hokage decided that we may as well get some training done at the same time." Yomiko nodded, seemingly satisfied, so Ino continued her explanation.

"This mission will take three or four days so, starting now, you have three hours to get everything you think you will need for the mission. This is a test. If you fail, I will be using you for taijutsu practice." She eyed her team carefully, making sure they got the point past their excitement.

"Go on, then. Meet at the gate in three hours," she said, waving a hand dismissively and leaning back on her hands as they flickered away. Three hours was probably a little generous but she was hoping the generous time would play on her team's minds and make them panic about not having everything they needed. After all, she mused, eyes following the white, fluffy clouds, one could never be too prepared.

* * *

Ino tapped her foot, waiting impatiently for her team. Yes, she was early, but she had expected Kazuki, at the very least, to be here bouncing around like a pinball. She glanced down at the pack she had put together automatically, leaning against the gate. The cloaks she had scrounged lay next to it, a dull, non-descript brown that the eyes almost slid off.

Which was the point - who would look twice at a group of travelling orphans? She was still feeling rather pleased with herself about that little gem; it might even get them a free meal somewhere.

Just as she was congratulating herself on her little piece of genius, her team leapt from the roof of a nearby building, packs on their back and, unbelievably, covered in the same cloaks Ino had procured for them. She gave them a look of disbelief and they looked at each other uncertainly,

"We thought it might be best to travel in disguise," Kazuki offered slowly. Ino shook her head and motioned to the pile of cloaks, giving a short laugh; that was actually very impressive on her team's part. Her team grinned, apparently pleased with themselves until Ino spoke again,

"You have the right idea except that you're all still wearing your forehead protectors." Horror-struck was probably the best term for it, she thought, as her team scrambled to rid themselves of the one thing that defined them as shinobi.

"Normally, that would be a fail," Ino said with amusement, "but I'm impressed that you thought of travelling in disguise. So I'll let you off this once." Relief crossed their faces, dispelled a moment later when Ino beckoned to Yomiko.

"Let's see what you packed then."

_Food, check. Small amount of water, check. Weapons, check. Shelter..._

"Yomiko, what are you going to do if we get caught in a storm?" Ino asked firmly, looking up from the pack to her smallest genin. Yomiko smiled confidently; Kana really had done a good job with her.

"Kazuki has our tent. I have some of his food, and Kana has some of his weapons," she said promptly. Ino frowned, motioning for Kazuki to show her his pack.

_Food, water, tent. Only a few kunai though._

"How's your shuriken holster looking, Kazuki?" He reached in and pulled out a handful of throwing stars, displaying them to the blonde jounin; she thought he'd be alright. She nodded, motioning to Kana.

_Food, water, two wind shuriken, plenty of kunai. Good._

"Alright. Everything looks like it should do. So I suppose that's a pass" she said with a smile, getting to her feet and brushing the dust from her knees. Her team all grinned at each other triumphantly.

"Now, before we set out, let's go over a few things," Ino began seriously, placing her hands on her hips.

"This may be a fairly easy mission, but things can always go wrong. I need you to be taking this totally seriously at all times, you got that?" Her team nodded quickly, the grins fading from their faces.

"I'm not going to put you guys into any situation you can't handle if I can help it, but if it all starts going wrong, get out of there. Don't look back, don't hesitate, just run. It shouldn't go wrong but if it does, you are far more important than a mission of this calibre." The team looked uncertainly at each other but didn't budge from their places. Ino bit her lip as a thought occurred to her.

"This mission will involve killing. If anybody thinks they might hesitate to kill a target, or they think they might freeze up, now is the time to tell me. No judgement, I would just prefer to be aware of the possibility."

There was a long pause as the group avoided each other's gaze then, as expected, Yomiko raised her hand, staring at the ground and blushing bright red. What Ino didn't expect was for Kazuki to also raise his hand, staring resolutely past her head. Ino forced her face to remain blank.

"You two, huh?" she said neutrally. Kazuki was the first to speak, naturally, apparently speaking for the two of them.

"I don't know if I can kill someone, Ino-sensei," he said firmly. Ino smiled, it was a very common fear among genin. She had felt the same when she had first started.

"You'd be surprised what you will do to keep your friends out of danger," she said softly, catching both Kazuki and Yomiko's eyes.

Ino grabbed her pack and threw her worn cloak over the top of her clothes, rearranging it carefully so that her usual clothes were hidden from view.

"Ready? Let's go!"


	7. Chapter 7 - Ambush

_Pandabot: Well, here it is. The first of three chapters that make up my mini-arc. It also launches the main storyline. So, you know. Read and review and junk._

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**Chapter 7: Ambush**

It was raining, pouring down onto the four travellers, trudging sadly through the downpour. Looking out of his bar, a rather reputable one if he said so himself, it was hard to miss such a sad procession; hell, it looked like three of them were just kids. The middle-aged man bit his lip thoughtfully; what kind of man would he be if he let kids wander around in that downpour?

He levered his way out from behind the cramped bar and stuck his head out of the door,

"Hey! You guys!" he shouted, struggling to be heard over the pouring rain. The group paused, looking around in confusion.

"Hey! Over here!" he waved and the tallest of the group pointed in his direction. He backed away as they jogged to his bar, slipping under the awning and pushing their hoods off their heads.

The tallest was a beautiful woman, blonde hair tumbling down over her shoulders, framing her face. She was young, too young to be wandering the country alone, never mind leading those kids around. He studied the kids quickly; the shy, dark-haired girl, the staunch, grey-haired boy, the girl with short, dirty blonde hair.

"Why don't you come in out of the rain? I can get you some warm food while you wait it out?" he said, turning his gaze back up to the young woman who led the group. She glanced at the kids and then back to him, blue eyes soft.

"Thank you. That would be nice," she said quietly, giving a demure smile. The man grinned widely and led the group into his bar, placing them at the comfortable stools. The group ignored the curious looks of the various patrons - not that there were many to begin with.

"I'll just go get your food," he said, squeezing behind the bar again and disappearing behind a door that led to the back room.

Ino glanced across at her team, placing her hand on the bar top and crossing her fingers deliberately - their hand-signal for silence. They probably wouldn't have said anything anyway, Ino mused, but it was best to be sure. She hadn't liked the look of the guy who sat, half-shaded, in the corner of the bar as they entered. The last thing they needed was for Kazuki to try and say something quietly; Kami knew the boy didn't know how to whisper.

She kept her ears peeled as two men behind her complained about the trade routes to Konoha and Suna. Not that they seemed to know anything. The fat barman came bustling out from behind the door, four plates of some indefinable substance balanced on his forearms.

_Oh Kami, is that supposed to be food?_ It looked like a kind of brown sludge, with green mixed in for variety; at least the smell wasn't too bad. Ino noticed her team look to her,

"Go on, children," she said gently, becoming the loving, motherly woman again. She caught the tiny grimace Kazuki pulled before digging in to the meal; hopefully the glare she sent him would appear to be a reprimand.

"So why were you all out there? It can get dangerous around these parts, you know." Glad of the excuse to leave the food for the moment, Ino raised her eyes and met the barman's gaze.

"We are heading to the Wind Country," she said cautiously. The barman raised a glass and a rag and began to clean it absently,

"Any particular reason for that?" he prodded - it wasn't often he saw strangers around these parts. Ino studied him carefully, trying to decide how to best manipulate him into giving her answers.

"I used to run an orphanage in the Fire Country," she began slowly, "But the money ran out and we had to go elsewhere." She took a bite of her plate and was surprised to find it was much more appetising than it looked. Not saying much, but at least it was edible.

"My sister runs an orphanage in the Wind Country. I'm taking these children there," she finished her rehearsed story - it told just enough to answer the question but hid enough to get away with it. The barman frowned and Ino's sharp eyes caught the glance he shot into the corner.

"Like I said, it's dangerous for you and those kids to go wandering around," he leaned in conspiratorially, "I hear there are bandits about." Her team shot 'terrified' glances at each other and stopped eating; Ino raised her eyebrows in surprise and feigned horror.

"Bandits? My sister didn't say anything about bandits," she exclaimed, sitting back from her seat and placing a hand delicately on her chest. The burly barman raised a hand and hushed her, glancing throughout the bar.

"Easy there. I think I know someone who might be able to help you," he said consolingly. He glanced around the bar again, leaning in,

"I'll let him know that you need an escort to the Wind Country and maybe he'll come talk to you," he said quietly. He slipped away before Ino could answer, heading into the corner of the bar.

"Matron?" a small voice came from beside her, "That guy in the corner's been staring at us since we came in." Ino gave Kazuki an approving glance, both at his perception and his disguised warning. She placed a hand gently on his head,

"I know, little one. Don't worry about him, eat your food," she said softly. She wasn't worried - it didn't feel like he was too powerful. Although, she mused, neither was Shikamaru and he was probably the most dangerous ninja she knew.

They finished their food and thanked the kind barman for his help before they moved away from the bar top and found a small booth, ready to wait out the rain. After all, even bandits wouldn't be out today, not when any sane merchant would be hiding out under shelter.

Ino had ended up sitting next to Yomiko and the dark-haired girl leaned closer now, appearing for the entire world to be resting her head on her arms,

"Sensei, uh, I mean Matron," she said quietly, amending herself at Ino's warning look, "What are we waiting for?" Ino glanced around her team, seeing the same curious expression on all of their faces. She smiled.

"Now we're waiting for the man over in the corner to come over here." Had there been anyone at the booths either side of them, they might have heard the group's words but the bar was fairly empty and there was no-one in earshot. Raising her voice slightly, just enough for a few patrons to hear, if they cared to listen, she spoke again.

"Get some rest, children. I'll wake you when the rain has stopped." She grabbed Yomiko and pulled her closer, letting her lean against her and close her eyes; she shot a look over the table to Kana and Kazuki, noting their looks of distaste.

Ino rolled her eyes, flicking her head minutely to either side, signalling that they didn't have to do everything she did. They shot each other a dirty look and then shuffled to either end of the bench, Kana leaning against the wall and Kazuki allowing himself to sprawl on the table.

Ino had no idea whether her team actually did manage to get some sleep over the next three or four hours; she was fairly certain that Yomiko, at least, did fall asleep at some point. Waiting patiently had always been a good way to go about her usual business so Ino had been mostly alert for the whole time, monitoring the room with her chakra.

As a result, Ino was aware almost immediately when the man in the corner stood from his table and moved silently over to their booth. She forced herself to remain as she was until he made his presence known. It wouldn't do to lose character now.

He slipped into her line of sight like a ghost, eyeing her with a practiced eye; Ino pretended to jump slightly at his sudden, silent entrance. She placed a finger to her lips, motioning to the kids strewn throughout the booth and the mysterious man nodded.

He was young, Ino noticed, almost as young as herself. He was also very good-looking in a sort of happy-go-lucky kind of way with dark hair that fell wildly across his forehead and green eyes that seemed to smile in their own special way. He wore a simple shirt with bandages wrapped carelessly around his wrists. The hilt of a sword poked over his left shoulder. Ino looked away, feigning shyness, watching his hands out of the corner of her eye; she had always been able to read the hands of people.

His were still smooth, unmarked by any wounds or scars; a marked contrast to his appearance. As an experienced shinobi, Ino had seen a lot of different ways to protect your joints but the way he had bandaged his wrists - it didn't seem like it would help a lot. It looked very good but it probably wouldn't give him too much support.

The man knelt next to her seat and spoke in a quiet, musical voice,

"I hear you are going to the Wind Country." He kept his tone neutral, a trick that Ino appreciated somewhere in the back of her mind. She turned back to him slightly, a shy smile on her face,

"Y-yes. My sister runs an orphanage there. But if there are bandits..." She trailed off, allowing a look of sadness and worry cross her face, expertly timed and wielded to draw the best reaction. A look of disgust crossed his face, a surprising reaction to say the least,

"If you mean those pathetic thieves, then you have nothing to worry about," he sneered. Ino let a look of hope cross her face - stay in character, stay in character.

"What do you mean?" she said, slightly louder than before, subtly squeezing Yomiko's side. She could see that Kana and Kazuki were awake by how still they were, listening carefully. The man gave her an encouraging smile,

"I can handle those idiots easily," he said calmly, not a hint of a boast in his voice. Yomiko stirred and drew the man's attention as she looked around cluelessly; she really had been asleep. Her eyes locked onto those of the mystery man's and she jumped, blushing.

"Good morning," the man teased with a grin. The other two 'woke up' at his words, looking around with bleary eyes; he grinned at them as well. He was very charming, Ino noted, and very careful to remain non-threatening. This was no ordinary guy.

"I'm Tsuko, by the way," he said, turning his smile back onto Ino; she quickly rearranged her face to be shy and grateful.

"I am Matron Nagashi," she said, bowing her head slightly, "and they are Yomiko, Kazuki and Kana." She motioned to each of the genin in turn.

"Well, Matron, I happen to be going to the Wind Country myself. I can escort you and your wards if that is agreeable," Tsuko said, that incredibly charming smile back on his face; Ino wondered whether her team had figured it out yet. Ino appeared to take a moment to think before she let a smile spread over her face,

"That would be wonderful, Tsuko"

* * *

From the looks that Kana was giving Tsuko as they left the small town, it looked like she had made the same connection as Ino had. The Jōnin gave her other students surreptious glances as they squelched through the mud left behind by the downpour; they hadn't seemed to notice anything out of place. Something to work on apparently.

The wind was still very cold as it swept through the trees that hemmed in the road they were following; Ino was glad of the heavy cloak's protection from the biting wind.

Kana caught her eye with a questioning look but Ino shook her head, trudging along in Tsuko's wake. Just wait, she mouthed, motioning minutely at the man's back. To Kana's credit, she appeared happy to wait for whatever it was that was about to happen - not that she had to wait long.

Exactly as Ino had expected, almost as soon as they were out of sight of the town, the man they were following suddenly turned and confronted them with his sword drawn; Ino didn't even pretend to flinch. It seemed that the facade was over.

"Sorry to do this Matron, but a man's gotta eat. Give us all you got." As he spoke, six men emerged from their hiding places in the surrounding trees, armed with a variety of vicious weapons. The way they held their weapons was so amateur that Ino was forced to put a hand to her mouth, stifling a laugh. _This __i__s their ambush? What __i__s that guy doing with a farmer's scythe?_

"Oh come on, don't cry now," Tsuko sneered, completely mistaking Ino's reaction through sheer arrogance, "Just give us everything you got and we'll let you go." Ino shared a look with her team, full of amusement.

"And if I refuse?" she giggled and even Tsuko couldn't mistake the humour in her tone. He growled and formed a hand seal,

"I'll give you something to laugh about, you bitch!" He vanished from view and still Ino didn't move, even when she felt the cold steel of his sword at her throat. She heard his voice hiss into her ear,

"Who's laughing now, bitch?" Ino seemed to think about the question for a moment and Yomiko spoke up,

"Um, Ino-sensei? Should we...do something?" she asked uncertainly. Ino pursed her lips,

"Yeah, I guess so. Just give me a second here and then you can clear up the rest of these idiots," she said calmly, completely ignoring the threat of the sword at her throat. Tsuko snarled in anger and re-gripped the hilt of his sword,

"I'll teach you!" he shouted, yanking the blade roughly across her neck. When she poofed from existence, leaving a small log to take her place, his expression probably would have made a fantastic picture. As it was, Ino didn't have a chance to see it as she reappeared behind him, moving too fast to see.

Her leg swung with bone-shattering force, sending the poor fool flying forward like a ragdoll, the sword dropping from nerveless fingers. It was clear that he was dead, even before he hit the ground and the surrounding bandits reared back uncertainly. There was a long second as Ino shrugged the cloak off her shoulders and nodded for the genin to do the same.

"Now remember," she said, "they may be idiots but those weapons will still hurt if they get you. Just be sensible about it." As they nodded and stretched readily, Kana eyeing the two biggest men with the sort of hunger usually displayed by a predator, the men began to slowly back away, lost without their leader. A thought occurred to Ino,

"Oh, right. If you aren't comfortable killing them, just knock them out. I'll do it later," she said, remembering Yomiko and Kazuki's reluctance to kill. The genin nodded and leapt on the attack.

_They really are good_, Ino thought as she stood watching her team demolish the bandits easily. As expected, Kana merely cut them to pieces with her wind-style jutsu; brutal maybe, but effective. Yomiko had displayed remarkable agility to knock out one of the men with the handle of her kunai and simultaneously place a hand on another's forehead, placing him under a genjutsu. Kazuki had already knocked out his opponent and was squatting over him, kunai in hand.

Ino watched him closely as he seemed to teeter over whether to finish the job or not, determined not to interfere. She shot Kana a warning look as she opened her mouth to say something; the first time you killed was an intensely personal decision. He had to make up his own mind.

She hadn't actually expected him to go through with it - it wasn't in his nature - so she wasn't suprised when he sat back with a disappointed expression. Kana shrugged and turned away, looking into the surrounding trees with a bored expression.

"Well done, you three," Ino said, removing a kunai from her pouch and starting forward to finish off the three that were still alive.

With a shot of adrenaline, her eyes widened and she leapt backwards, flipping away from the ground - _Shit, too late! _A kunai shot from the mud, tied to a dull metallic chain and wrapped itself around her forearm, yanking her back to the ground.

"Ugh!" She hit the mud hard and, before she could get to her feet, a second kunai wrapped her wrist, pulling her flush to the ground. A shocked voice broke through the quiet afternoon.

"Sensei!" Ino rolled backwards, ready to dislocate her shoulders and escape the trap but two more kunai erupted from the mud and wrapped around her legs, pulling her back to the ground - _Shit!_

Ino was trapped, held to the ground by four kunai that had wrapped around her limbs and dug into the mud. A deep laugh came from her left and her head twisted around, her team freezing in place.

A man, clearly a shinobi, rose from the mud, holding four chains in his left hand, a short sword gripped in his right. He yanked the chains experimentally and Ino grunted in pain as the chains tightened around her limbs,

"Falling for such a trick. And you call yourself a Jōnin?" Ino narrowed her eyes as she took in his appearance, the long, brown fur coat that covered the majority of his body, the multitude of earrings and the face piercings surrounded by a cap that wrapped around his head.

"Nobody move," she ordered, not even looking at her team, "This guy is way too dangerous for you guys." She was glad when no-one protested or launched an attack. She pulled experimentally at her chains,

"I know you," she said with forced calm, "You're Kirin Tatuko, aren't you?" The man grinned,

"I'm famous? How flattering." Ino grimaced as he tugged on the chains again, squirming under the pressure,

"Only as famous as any other criminal in the bingo book," she forced out, tensing her muscles against the pull of the chains. He laughed, loosening his grip on the chains a little,

"Oh, you'll see. I'll be the most famous in the book one day," he began. He paused, seeming to consider his own words for a second,

"Actually, you won't see. Too bad." He yanked the chains again and Ino grunted in pain as her right shoulder popped out of its socket.

"You three!" she shouted, preparing to break her other arm and attempt an escape, "Get the hell out of here! He'll kill you!" She froze at the one phrase she didn't want to hear, shouted by her most enthusiastic student.

"No way, sensei! I'm gonna beat the crap out of this guy!"


	8. Chapter 8 - Comeback! Ino's Fight!

_Pandabot: Well, it's been a little while, hasn't it? Sorry about that but, you know. Writers aren't the most reliable folk. Anyway, here we go, part two of the mission to the River Country. It _will_ be getting wrapped up in the next chapter and then we'll get the main storyline (sort of) started. But read, review and just enjoy. Hopefully we'll get the next chapter up soon(ish). Peace out!_

* * *

**Chapter 8: Comeback! Ino's Fight!**

**_Last time on Ino: Shippuden:_**

_"Falling for such a trick. And you call yourself a jounin?" Ino narrowed her eyes as she took in his appearance, the long, brown fur coat that covered the majority of his body, the multitude of earrings and the face piercings surrounded by a cap that wrapped around his head._

_"Nobody move," she ordered, not even looking at her team, "This guy is way too dangerous for you guys." She was glad when no-one protested or launched an attack. She pulled experimentally at her chains._

_"I know you," she said calmly, "You're Kirin Tatuko, aren't you?" The man grinned._

_"I'm famous? How flattering." Ino grimaced as he tugged on the chains again, squirming under the pressure,_

_"Only as famous as any other criminal in the bingo book," she forced out, tensing her muscles against the pull of the chains. He laughed, loosening his grip on the chains a little._

_"Oh, you'll see. I'll be the most famous in the book one day," he began. He paused, seeming to consider his own words for a second,_

_"Actually, you won't see. Too bad." He yanked the chains again and Ino grunted in pain as her right shoulder popped out of its socket._

_"You three!" she shouted, preparing to break her other arm and attempt an escape, "Get the hell out of here! He'll kill you!" She froze at the one phrase she didn't want to hear, shouted by her most enthusiastic student._

_"No way, sensei! I'm gonna beat the crap outta this guy!"_

* * *

'Dammit! Gotta get free!'

Ino bit back a shout of agony as the chains suddenly tightened, wrenching her dislocated shoulder painfully. She was held, totally immobile aside from her head, which she turned to watch as Kirin planted his sword through the chains, holding them in place on the ground.

"I won't need my sword to deal with your little brats," he explained coldly as he met her gaze with a sneer. A shot of cold fear ran through Ino.

"Kana, Yomiko! Take Kazuki and get out of here! You can't fight him!" she shouted desperately, gritting her teeth as her shoulder pulsed painfully. The girls, the level-headed girls, exchanged a glance then took up positions on either side of Kazuki.

"Sorry, Ino-sensei," Kana stated, "but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash." Kazuki and Yomiko nodded and Ino, had she been able, would have slapped a hand to her forehead,

_Goddammit, Kakashi. What have you been telling them?_

Kazuki shot glances to either side of him, giving each of his team-mates a nod. He didn't need to tell them the plan, they were both way smarter than him; they probably knew it better than he did.

There was no need to give the enemy any warning as he burst into motion, sprinting at the big jerk. He was aware of Yomiko and Kana each readying their own jutsu but he kept his focus on the big guy - hopefully he would be arrogant enough to wait for him to get there.

He began to focus his chakra as much as possible; he would need it all for the next bit. He heard and felt Yomiko's Phoenix Bloom jutsu come flying past him, impacting all around the enemy, acting as an effective smokescreen. He knew that Yomiko would be waiting to see if this Kirin guy moved, using her sensing ability to keep track of him.

"Alright!" he shouted, readying his chakra, "Let's do it!" He slid into the smoke, landing right next to the enemy, chakra pulsing strongly. He placed his hands together in his favourite seal, the tiger seal.

"Lightning Barrage!"

He felt that familiar overwhelming surge of energy, knocking the air from his lungs with its violence. Immediately, he manoeuvred around the back of Kirin, the world blurring before his eyes, leaping into the air and cocking his leg back. If he had any air in his lungs, he would have laughed at the shock on Kirin's face - the same expression Ino-sensei had worn when she first saw his awesome technique.

"Urgh!" Kazuki's leg slammed into the raised arms of Kirin, sending him sliding backwards. He dropped to the ground and sprinted forward; sliding in low at the big guy like Iruka-sensei had instructed him. Kirin barely managed to get his legs out of the way, jumping over Kazuki's slide desperately.

With a triumphant grin, Kazuki kicked off the ground, twisting violently in mid-air to bring his left leg around in an improvised axe kick. Kirin managed to get his arms in front of the kick but it didn't matter as he was slammed backwards into the ground. Kazuki, aware that he was losing chakra by the second, twisted so that he flew at the ground, readying his fist to unleash all of his remaining chakra at once. Maybe they wouldn't even need the back-up plan.

There was a massive explosion as Kazuki impacted with the ground, creating a perfectly circular crater in the centre of the road. He swore to himself, grimacing in pain as his hand broke; either this guy's skin was like rock or he wasn't on the ground anymore. The dust billowed around him for a second as he tried to catch his breath.

Moving like a ghost, Kirin appeared out of the dust cloud, a vicious sneer across his face. He readied his own fist, the huge hand actually glowing with chakra,

"I'll make you pay for that, you little shit." Kazuki knew he couldn't move; it was the draw-back of his technique. Not a bad way to die though, he mused as Kirin stood over him and pulled back his fist.

_Wonder how Team Four will do without me?_

Suddenly Ino was there, smashing into Kirin's stomach with her outstretched leg, sliding in low, balanced on her left leg and arm. Kazuki gave a sigh of relief;

_Looks like Kana did it_. As though summoned by his thoughts, Kana leapt into the dust beside him, both hand fans ready to go. She gave him a smile, a real one for once, before turning her attention to Ino.

"Will you be ok, Ino-sensei?" The blonde Jōnin turned for half a second, eyeing the two with the most serious expression either of them had ever seen on her face. It was pure determination, pure intensity.

"Yeah," she said, turning back as the dust began to dissipate, "Get back a little and I'll handle this". With a short nod, Kana put an arm under Kazuki and lifted him, supporting his weight easily as they left their sensei to face the enemy. Yomiko met the pair of them with a short nod, watching Kirin carefully as he picked himself up.

Ino stood slowly in the cloud of dust, forcing a shot of chakra into her right arm and relocating the joint with a sickening crunch. She reached into her pouch and withdrew a kunai before flying through a series of familiar hand-seals.

"Water-style! Water Clone Jutsu!"

The clone had barely even formed before it shot out of the dust, sprinting at Kirin with a kunai held backhand. The real Ino jumped sideways out of the dust before it could disappear, hurling a barrage of shuriken at the rogue ninja.

He blocked all of the shuriken easily, the sword blurring out of view for a second, before he swung at the charging water clone. The clone managed to block with the kunai and spin inside Kirin's guard, elbow up and swinging.

He ducked under the elbow, his free hand coming up to grab the clone by the throat and squeeze. Ino threw a kunai as he squeezed, the clone bursting into water. The kunai sailed through the exploding water but was blocked by Kirin's sword, swinging too fast to see.

"You cannot stop my rise to fame!" he growled, forming a half-seal with his free hand. He threw his sword into the air and began a series of hand seals. Ino tensed, focusing her chakra to be ready at a moment's notice.

"Earth Style! Chain Dance Jutsu!"

He placed his left hand flat against the ground, his free hand coming up to catch the short sword as it fell. There was a second of tense silence as Ino raised two kunai readily.

The ground tore itself to pieces all around her, kunai flying out of the ground, trailing dull chains like before. This time, instead of trying to outrun the kunai, she went on the attack, dancing through the maze of weapons and chains, deflecting the kunai with her own.

She managed to extract herself from the madness of the jutsu, flipping away from the chains as they followed her every move, diving in and out of the ground. A blur of motion appeared on the edge of her vision and she crossed her kunai in front of her, blocking the swing of Kirin's weapon desperately.

"Ugh!" The rogue ninja immediately followed up his attack with a solid kick to the chest that knocked Ino off her feet. She managed to get a hand under her and flip back to her feet, sliding under the force of the kick that she was fairly sure had broken a rib. Somewhere along the line, she had dropped both of her kunai, leaving her defenceless against those stupid chains.

The eight kunai leapt from the ground, forcing her to catch one and twist it expertly around the chains of another two. She felt a hot flash of pain from her ribs as she was forced to roll awkwardly away from the other five. She forced chakra into her legs, leaping high to avoid the slash she knew would be coming from Kirin.

She had over two seconds of peace, two seconds to begin the scraps of a plan, before Kirin was in front of her again, hovering dangerously in mid-air. _Dammit, he's too fast to beat like this!_

Ino squeezed her hand, crushing the smoke bombs she had removed from her weapon pouch. The pain shot through her hand and into her chest as the bombs exploded, purple smoke flying out around them. Aiming blindly towards the hulking shadow in the fog, Ino kicked her foot upwards.

There was a satisfying clang as the sword was knocked from his hand, spinning away wildly. As she fell, she began to fly through a set of hand seals as fast as she could make them. She burst through the smoke and saw the kunai reaching up to grab her in the same trap. _Enough of this shit._

"Water Style! Icicle Spear Jutsu!" Ino gritted her teeth at the sudden, alarming drain on her chakra reserves as she drew her arm back. Ice sprouted from her fist, growing into the shape of a short spear. Twisting her whole body, she caught one of the attacking kunai and spun it around the others with a series of wrist flicks, deflecting the others away from her with the ice spear.

She span her body, wrapping the chains together tightly and simultaneously driving the spear through the centre of the tied mass. Twisting one last time, she threw the spear, sending the chains to the ground where they stayed, trapped in the mud by the ice spear.

Kirin appeared behind her, fist glowing with chakra. He punched her in the back, a flare of chakra exploding out, sending her flying into the ground. The ground cracked under the impact, a cloud of dust exploding out from the impact point.

"Sensei!" Yomiko and Kana launched their own attacks at the falling Kirin, flames pushed by Kana's spiralling wind tunnel. He disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a log that was shredded, the pieces set alight. A barrage of shuriken erupted from the trees, catching the genin off-guard, unable to defend themselves.

With a flash of movement, Ino leapt in front of the barrage, arms crossed in front of her body protectively. There was a splash of blood and Ino stood, shuriken protruding from her arms and body, bleeding onto the ground.

"S-Sensei?" Ino ignored her team for the moment, keeping her eyes on her enemy. Kirin leapt onto the road where his sword had fallen and picked it up.

"Why do you protect those brats?" he said slowly, turning to eye Ino. She panted, pulling the shuriken gingerly from her arms.

"They are my students. I won't let you touch them!" she snarled. He narrowed his eyes, hefting the sword in his right hand,

"You think you can stop me?" Ino stepped away from her team, shaking the blood from her arms. She didn't answer; there was no need to play his game. Instead she began analysing what she knew of his abilities, searching for the weakness she could exploit. If the fight kept going like this, she would die - he was just as fast as her and he was stronger.

Her mind started with how Kana had cut her free from the chains with her wind chakra while Kirin was distracted with Kazuki's insane speed. It was strange that he hadn't noticed Ino's escape until it was too late; surely even a chuunin would at least have been aware of it.

She frowned; the more she thought about it, the stranger it was. Why wouldn't he have noticed? Kana was hardly subtle. She thought ahead to the way he had confronted her water clone; there had been something odd about it but she hadn't been able to figure out what at the time. He had seemed to focus too much on what was clearly a diversion.

She considered the two moments as she pulled out the three shuriken that had lodged themselves in her stomach; could it really be that simple? Sure, she knew it was a problem for a lot of genin - but at this level? She slapped her hands together, gathering chakra.

_Time to find out._


	9. Chapter 9 - Like Predator and Prey

_Pandabot: And now it's time to wrap up the first mini-arc. Yay! But seriously, this chapter was probably the one I enjoyed writing the most so far. This also marks the true beginning of the major story arc. So let's do the usual, read, review and hopefully enjoy it all. Peace out_

**Chapter 9: Like Predator and Prey**

* * *

_**Last time on Ino: Shippuden**_

_She considered the two moments as she pulled out the three shuriken that had lodged themselves in her stomach; 'Could it really be that simple?' Sure, she knew it was a problem for a lot of genin - but at this level? She slapped her hands together, gathering chakra._

_Time to find out._

* * *

_Alright_, Ino thought, glaring at the bulky man, hidden under his fur coat, _Time to wrap this up_. She took a deep breath, gaining tight control over her chakra; from now on, everything she did would have to be fast.

"Water Style! Water Clone Jutsu!" The clone leapt away, running lightly at Kirin, as Ino began a second string of seals, bringing her chakra quickly back under control.

"Water Style! Big Wave Jutsu!" She slapped both of her hands to the ground, forcing her chakra out through her hands as fast as her network could handle. A massive burst of water reared up, sweeping over the space between her and the rogue ninja rapidly, faster than her clone.

The clone threw two kunai, hoping to take advantage of the momentary distraction as Kirin's eyes flickered up to the top of the wave in surprise but he batted them away with barely a moment's notice. He formed his stance as the clone slid to a stop, allowing the water to sweep over it and engulf it.

He jumped, leaping clear of the huge wave of water, looking around for the real Ino; all he could see were those brats, crouched protectively in front of that kid with the stupid hair. Suddenly, a pair of kunai burst from the wall of water and his eyes widened.

_She hid herself in there?!_ He swung his sword, blocking the weapons and twisting around to face the wave; he wouldn't be taken by suprise again. As he expected, she leapt from the water, meeting the swing of his sword with her kunai and grappling in close with him. They kicked away from each other as they fell towards the ground and landed twenty feet apart on the soggy ground.

She charged him again, swaying side-to-side to try and upset his stance; too damn easy. He set himself, ready to meet her charge, sword held comfortably in his right hand. Suddenly, impossibly, she appeared next to him as well, a spear of ice held in her left hand, drawn back ready to strike.

_What?! A clone?!_ He swung his sword backhand as her right hand formed a half-seal, closing her eyes in concentration. His sword made contact and liquid splashed into face.

_Water?! No!_ He just about had time to turn his head back to the original attacker, taking in the ice spear extending from her left hand, the right hand still in its half-seal. He was wide open, utterly defenceless.

Ino took ruthless advantage of the opening, panting desperately at the loss of chakra. She thrust forward, sharp eyes placing the weapon exactly where she wanted it to go. Directly through the heart.

There was a sickeningly wet thud, the sound of sliding feet and then awful silence. Kirin's eyes bulged in agony, disbelief.

"How?" he managed to gasp out, past his failing lungs. Ino held her position, spear implanted in his chest, both hands holding it in place, her left elbow touching his already blood-soaked coat.

"You were so focused on the water and my clone that you didn't even notice me creating another spear in the trees. Then, when you noticed me at the last second, I used a Replacement Jutsu with my own clone to get past your guard," she explained though her pants. He coughed, blood spraying from his mouth as his entire body began to shut down.

"Impossible," he mumbled, eyelids drifting shut. Ino looked up at the face of the dying man,

"No. You should have learned to always know where your real enemy is. You sealed your own fate" she said sternly. He coughed again and his eyes unfocussed as his body spasmed. Satisfied, Ino released the Jutsu and allowed the rogue ninja, Kirin Tatuko, to fall backwards. Dead.

"Woah! Way to go, Sensei!" Ino looked up tiredly, sending a weary grin to her team, especially the enthusiastic, stubborn young man who had saved her life. She winced as the effects of chakra exhaustion hit her with a vengeance, making all of her wounds, visible or not, throb viciously.

"Yomiko, my pack has some medical supplies. Can you bring them over here please?" she said, allowing her body to sink slowly to the ground, resting on her knees. Yomiko scrambled to her feet with a hurried exclamation, Kana joining her by the packs. Ino smiled tiredly,

_They're good kids._

* * *

"Will you hold still?"

Kazuki groaned as his bones re-knit themselves under Ino's ministrations, his hand wrapped in the glowing green chakra emitting from Ino's palm. He fidgeted again under the strange feeling but managed to keep his hand still.

They were still crouched near the scene of the battle, Ino too tired to move far after expending so much of her chakra. The three bandits who had originally survived were gone, either washed away by Ino's water jutsu or they escaped during the fight. Yomiko and Kana were sitting by the packs, talking quietly, repacking the medical supplies into Ino's pack.

With a last, awful crunch, Kazuki's hand set and Ino released her medical Jutsu with a tired sigh, sitting back on her heels. She glanced around at the team of genin, giving a tired smile.

"Well, that got out of hand quickly," she commented wryly. They laughed, a certain note of relief in their voices. It was good to release that sort of tension after a fight; especially a fight that was so far over their heads. This was their first encounter with an enemy ninja and it been a pretty rough introduction into their world.

"You know," Ino began, drawing the attention of her team back to her, "you handled yourselves very well today." Yomiko blushed heavily and Kana tried to hide her own proud grin by looking away into the trees with a bored expression, failing miserably. Kazuki shot her his signature grin and he rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment.

"You acted like true shinobi of the Leaf Village. You can all be proud," she said, pushing herself to her feet wearily. She stretched, her shoulder popping pleasantly, feeling her recently repaired ribs twinge.

"Alright, gather up any weapons you can find and get ready to leave," she ordered, "I'm gonna go search his body." Kana and Yomiko jumped to their feet, still grinning hopelessly at Ino's praise as Ino turned and headed over to the hulking Shinobi's body. She had been careful not to alarm her team, but Kirin's appearance in the Land of Rivers - when he had last been seen in the vicinity of the Sound Village - was ominous.

He was relatively new to the bingo book, a former shinobi of the Hidden Stone Village, but had already garnered a reputation for being particularly ruthless. Not a lot was known about him and, she mused as she crouched next to his lifeless body, not much ever would.

She studied the short sword he had been using - it was of very fine make, extremely well-crafted. She picked it up and twirled it around her fingers; the balance was utterly perfect for single-handed wielding, light and easy.

She looked closer, turning the weapon over in her hands and noticed a marking on the silvery blade. It looked like an insignia of some sort, like Konoha's own mark on the ceremonial weapons, but she would be damned if she knew where this one came from.

It took the shape of circle, surrounding three intersecting ellipses. In the centre of the ellipses, there were three points that followed the paths of the ellipses, forming a y-like shape.

She frowned at the sword - there was something oddly familiar about the design on the blade. She felt like she should know the marking from somewhere, somewhere important, but she just couldn't place it. Not while she was tired and still running on the adrenaline of the fight with Kirin.

She bit her lip, placing the sword next to her - the Hokage would probably want to see this anyway. Searching for the sheath she flicked open the long fur coat, pulling a face at the blood soaking through his flak jacket. The sheath was non-descript, a simple brown leather number that did the job it was supposed to; a marked contrast to the blade.

She unstrapped it quickly, grimacing as she had to lift his limp body to get the sheath away from him. She turned to leave but stopped; she may as well check his pockets now she had his blood on her hands.

She dug uncomfortably into the pockets of his flak jacket, pulling a face at the blood that had leaked inside. Her expression changed as her fingers touched a piece of paper; his mission orders? What kind of amateur carried those around?

She withdrew the paper, crouching over his body like a predator over its prey. Shaking as much blood as she could off the paper she unfolded it carefully, thankful that she hadn't wasted too much time healing Kazuki and herself.

As it was, the paper was pretty badly stained along the left hand side, obscuring the text in places; what Ino could read was enough to chill her to the bones.

_-Yamanaka_

_-Jōnin leader of a three man unit. Engage with_

_-use of Taijutsu with clones. Will also attempt to enter_

_-extremely difficult. Trained in Medical Ninjutsu._

_-execute without mercy._

_What the hell is this?_ she thought in shock, _Who's targeting me?_ She glanced back at the face of Kirin Tatuko, the man who was apparently under orders to kill her. She glanced back to the paper again,

_But orders from who? And how did they know to be here?_ She sensed the approach of Kana and hurriedly stuffed the paper into a pocket of her weapon pouch - this kind of thing was way above their heads and would only worry them.

"Ino-sensei? We're done." Ino turned with a smile, hiding her worry behind a mask - something she was very practiced in.

"Good timing, I just finished too." She motioned at the sword and sheath lying next to Kirin's body,

"Would you mind wrapping that in some rags? The Hokage will want to see that." Ignoring Kana's questioning look, Ino pushed herself to her feet, staring at Kirin's face.

_Who sent you? And why?_

* * *

Ino was leading her team along the path towards the Leaf Village, trying in vain to figure out the puzzle of the insignia on Kirin's sword. It would have been a lot easier if she wasn't so worn out from using so much chakra. And if her ribs weren't still hurting. And if the genin would stop arguing quietly with each other for two damn seconds.

"What is it?" she snapped, whirling around to face the youngsters. She winced as it came a lot harsher than she had intended, scaring poor little Yomiko witless; it looked like she was never going to speak again. After a long second, Kana raised her head, taking charge.

"Who was that guy? And why did he attack us? And why did you take his sword? And, and..." She trailed off, looking uncertain. Ino sighed; she had been expecting the questions before now. She should probably be grateful for even this brief respite.

"Alright," she said, running a hand through her hair, "I'll go through it as we walk." She turned and continued on, ignoring them as they jogged up to walk alongside her.

"That 'guy', as you so eloquently put it, was Kirin Tatuko." At the expectant looks of her team, Ino took a deep breath.

"He is, or was, a rogue ninja. Originally from the Hidden Stone Village, he was sentenced to death shortly after the war but escaped before he could be executed." Kazuki immediately spoke up, displaying his usual energy - _doesn't he ever stop?_

"How do you know all that, Ino-sensei?" Ino glanced either side of her and noted the same curious expressions on Kana and Yomiko's faces.

_Right_, she thought, _they probably wouldn't know a lot about the bingo book yet_. Ino swung her pack from her shoulders, digging into the bottom cautiously, careful to miss the various weapons she had stashed in there.

"Do you guys know what this is?" Ino asked, pulling the small, red book from her pack. There was a moment of blank silence as the genin studied the book; Kazuki and Kana wore identical less-than-impressed expressions.

"Is that a bingo book?" Yomiko asked uncertainly, volunteering an answer for once. Ino shot her a smile; she wasn't surprised that Yomiko was the one who knew. She was a smart girl, much smarter than her two team members.

"That's right. This, boys and girls, will be your best friend in the years to come," Ino said with a flourish. She pointed at Yomiko,

"What is listed in the bingo book?" The dark-haired girl bit her lip shyly, twisting her hands together.

"Um, shinobi criminals?"

"Right again, Yomiko," Ino said with a smile, opening the book to a random page and stopping on the road. She motioned for the genin to gather around and she held it so that the whole team could easily see the page.

"See here? This is," she checked the name, "Nomiyo Hushun. Hidden Rain Village ninja, any relevant training information, brief history, blood type. Pretty much anything we would need if we had to hunt one of these shinobi down." Kana looked up in confusion, drawing her sensei's attention.

"What would we need to know the blood type for?" she asked curiously, her tone a little politer than usual. Ino shot her a smile.

"I'm glad you asked that, Kana. What possible reason could we want to know their blood type for?" she asked the group at large. She didn't really expect them to know the answer - it wasn't the sort of thing they'd been exposed to yet - but it was good to see what they did and didn't know. After a long second, as the genin looked at Ino expectantly, she decided to give them the answer as bluntly as possible.

"What if you're torturing a shinobi for information but they're losing too much blood?" As expected, Yomiko turned white as a sheet and Kazuki looked a little sick; Kana looked as unruffled as ever, but Ino could tell it unsettled her. She gave a small smile,

"Yes, it's unpleasant but it happens." She was glad they wouldn't be exposed to that sort of situation; she still had trouble sleeping sometimes after the time she had assisted Ibiki with an interrogation.

"Getting back on track," she said, pointing at the top corner of the page where a large 'C' was stamped onto the page, "You see this?" At their nods, Ino continued,

"That means that he is a C-class criminal." She glanced up at her team, snapping the book shut,

"Does anybody know what level of mission that would be?" With typical enthusiasm, Kazuki jumped in with the answer,

"It's a B-class mission, right sensei? Because we'd be fighting a fellow shinobi." Ino shot him an approving look, stowing the book into her pack again.

"That's right, Kazuki. D and C-class missions should never involve combat with another shinobi." Ino face twisted into a rueful smile as she set off again,

"As you just saw, things don't always go according to plan." Yomiko and Kazuki laughed at her dry attempt at humour and the boy bounded up to walk alongside her.

"Hey, hey, Ino-sensei! Have you ever hunted down a shinobi from the bingo book?" Ino winced as he shouted in his enthusiasm from approximately two feet away.

"Kazuki," she groaned, placing her hand to her head, "take it easy." He tried to tone it down, he really did, but it just wasn't in his nature. He was just naturally enthusiastic.

"I bet you have," he proclaimed with the surety of youth, "I bet you're the second best shinobi hunter in the Fire Country! After Naruto, obviously." Ino closed her eyes in despair,

"Geez, do you ever shut up?"


	10. Chapter 10 - Deployment

_Pandabot: Well, it's certainly been a while, hasn't it? Hopefully, you haven't all lost interest and moved on to greener pastures. I just had a hectic Chirstmas and New Years and writing went out of the window for a bit. But I'm back and ready to go so it should be business as usual from now on. So, you know, read, review and junk. I love to hear from you.  
This chapter is important for a number of reasons, most of which won't be clear until very late in the story. If there is one thing to take away from this chapter though it's this._

_Loyalty isn't always a two-way street._

* * *

**Chapter 10: Deployment**

"Shit"

In a single word, Naruto had managed to sum up the feeling of the group gathered in the Hokage's office. They stared at the blood-stained page on the table, eyeing it with unease. It wasn't often that a Leaf shinobi was targeted like this; Kakashi was the only one had been targeted more than once. Ino folded her arms,

"It was pretty clear that he knew I was going to be there too. It was a trap, not just an opportunistic attack," she said grimly. The group shuffled awkwardly; nobody actually wanted to be the one to say it.

As soon as she had arrived in the Leaf Village, Ino had sent her team home to get some rest, heading up to the Hokage Tower to report the ambush. It was vital that the Hokage knew as soon as possible.

"This isn't good." Lady Tsunade let her head fall into her hand as she glared at the paper, her sake cup clenched firmly in her right hand. Finally, Shikamaru spoke up from the corner of the room where he stood, arms folded tightly as he leant against the wall.

"So how do we catch the traitor?" There was a long pause as the phrase sank in to the group; Kakashi, Naruto, Ino, Tsunade, Shizune, Shikamaru.

"How indeed" Tsunade mumbled. Calm as ever, Kakashi spoke quietly,

"We could use ANBU. This is what they are around for." Lady Tsunade shot him a glance, ignoring everyone else for the moment,

"Normally, I would say no but..." she trailed off, glancing at Naruto. Her lips tightened,

"How is the retraining coming along?" Naruto looked thoughtfully out of the window,

"It's hard to tell. Sai and Yamato have changed a lot of things but we aren't allowed in to see what they teach."

"Dammit!" Tsunade growled, slamming her fist on the desk with a loud bang making Shizune jump with fright.

"We can't continue to have ANBU work as some kind of separate army! It doesn't work!" There was another long uncomfortable pause before Kakashi interrupted,

"It does work. You just have to trust them," he said calmly, sounding as unruffled as ever. Tsunade turned her glare onto him and seemed about to spit something venomous before Shikamaru interrupted lazily,

"I don't see how this helps us." The Hokage took a swig from her cup, visibly calming herself.

"Fine, how do we find out who tipped this Kirin off?" she snapped, looking over at Shikamaru and Kakashi, stood together by the wall. The Legendary Laze shrugged, glancing at Kakashi,

"We use ANBU. They're the best at this kind of operation." The Hokage growled in anger, holding her cup out to Shizune who was too worried to refuse her. Naruto jumped in from his seat on the windowsill, as Shizune refilled Tsunade's cup.

"If you don't trust ANBU as a whole, why not use Sai? Or Shino? I trust those two with my life, so why not Ino's?" Ino nodded at the Hokage's questioning look,

"Sure, I trust them. It works for me" she said reasonably. Maybe she wasn't the greatest of friends with the pair of them but she definitely trusted them; Shino had made it clear on more than one occasion how highly he thought of his friends. Tsunade sighed,

"Fine. Kakashi, go and give ANBU the mission. Tell them everything we know and tell them to keep it quiet," she ordered. As Kakashi nodded and moved to the window, Ino held out her hand,

"Oh, wait a second! I picked up something else from his body." She dug into her pack, pushing aside the various weapons and items she kept in there.

"There we go" she mumbled to herself as she withdrew the short sword, still wrapped in rags. Ignoring the other's incredulous looks, she unwrapped the weapon and pulled it carefully from its sheath, allowing the light blade to settle comfortably in her hand.

She turned it over so that the insignia was faced upwards as she placed it on the desk and pushed it over to Tsunade.

"Do you recognise that mark?" There was a long pause as Tsunade leant over the sword, studying the insignia that had been playing on Ino's mind for the last two days.

"I've never seen it before" Tsunade said finally, sitting back into her high-backed chair with a thoughtful expression, nursing her sake cup. Naruto leaned forward casually as Ino pulled a face; she hadn't really expected anyone to know. She shrugged at Shikamaru's questioning glance - it had been worth a try.

"Sasuke." The room froze, turning back to Naruto as he glared with hatred at the blade. Ino was the first to recover,

"W-what?" Naruto turned his gaze onto her, the hatred she hadn't seen in three years blazing behind his eyes. Not since he last encountered the Uchiha traitor.

"That mark. It looks exactly like Sasuke's eyes," he growled darkly. The implications of the statement sank into everyone at the same moment and the room practically exploded under the sudden barrage of noise as everyone started throwing questions at each other.

"Everyone shut up!"

There was a crack, a crash as Tsunade stood and pounded her fist onto her desk, snapping the sturdy wood clean in two, the pieces falling despondently to the ground, buried under papers. She let out a groan as she studied the pile,

"Dammit, not again." She closed her eyes for a second as the group stared at the smashed furniture in surprise. When she opened them again, she was cool, calm and collected, eyeing Naruto carefully.

"Are you sure that's Uchiha's Sharingan?" Tearing his eyes away from Tsunade's wrecked desk, Naruto nodded,

"Yeah. I remember it from the last time I fought him." Tsunade's eyes narrowed as she glared at the sword, lying harmlessly where it had fallen in the desk's unfortunate demise.

Ino's mind was in overdrive - of course, that was where she had seen that mark. That bastard's eyes as he turned towards her, glaring with palpable hatred as she collapsed, gasping to the dirt, exhausted from holding him for so long. It was lucky Naruto had recovered at that moment.

"Ino Yamanaka," she snapped back to the present as the Hokage spoke, "You are suspended from active missions until we can determine the severity of this threat." There was a shocked pause as Ino gaped in horror at the proclamation. Even Kakashi seemed surprised by the sudden decision.

"WHAT?!" Ino exploded with the force of a small, localised bomb, eclipsing any of the noise the meeting had previously seen. Unfazed, Tsunade met her furious gaze steadily,

"If Uchiha is after you, then we want you right where we can see you." Ino almost snarled, barely remembering to hold herself back; this was the Hokage, after all.

"If he is after me, then he isn't stupid to come after me here where he will have to fight his way to me!" Seeing Tsunade's temper about to boil over again, Shikamaru sighed and pushed himself off the wall.

"If Uchiha is after Ino, why didn't _he_ ambush her?" he asked lazily, the merest hint of frustration at the hysteria over Sasuke. He pressed his point as the room shared thoughtful glances,

"I don't know the guy well or anything, but if he wanted her dead, I'm pretty sure he would want to do it himself." There was a long pause as Tsunade glanced questioningly at Naruto who nodded; that was the way Sasuke was.

"You think that someone could be using Uchiha's grudge against the Leaf Village?" Tsunade said, turning back to Shikamaru. He shrugged non-committal,

"Maybe. It's happened before." The Hokage narrowed her eyes as she thought over the problem facing them. If Sasuke was really after Ino, for whatever reason, then they couldn't risk sending her out of the village, effectively ending her career as a Jōnin. If he wasn't, they needed to know who was targeting her, the faster the better.

"We need to know more," she muttered to herself. She couldn't just send her Jōnin out to try and hunt whoever it was down, not with a possible traitor in the village. She also couldn't afford to ignore the problem, not after Ino had proven herself to be an extremely useful member of the Leaf since the war ended.

Ino was just praying that she wouldn't remain suspended from missions. If she was suspended, Team Four would be handed over to another Jōnin and she would be damned if she let that happen. Annoying as they could be at times, they were her team.

"Kakashi. I have a mission for you." Tsunade turned to the experienced Jōnin with a hard expression,

"Kakashi, tell ANBU to get on the trail of our traitor, then head out and see the Raikage. See if they know anything about this situation." He nodded shortly, giving a small wave as he headed to the window.

"Sure. Later." As he leapt away, Tsunade swung around to her protégé, the young man she considered to be her grandson.

"Naruto, go and find Neji and Anko. Send Anko to go and see the Mizukage and Neji to the Tsuchikage. See if they know anything." The blonde-haired Hero of the Leaf gave a mock salute, his signature grin in place,

"You got it, Granny." He leapt out of the open window in a flash of orange and black and Tsunade turned to Shikamaru.

"I'm sending you to the Sand. Go and see what Gaara can find out but pretend you're there for the Chunnin exams." She paused with a thoughtful expression,

"Actually, while you're there, you might as well start planning the next Chunnin exams. They aren't too far off." He sighed, levering himself off the wall with great effort,

"Tch. What a drag," he mumbled. Ino snorted, unimpressed with his act; like he wasn't happy for an excuse to go and see Temari. Tsunade apparently shared her thoughts.

"Take a week when you get there too. You need some time off," she said calmly, taking a swig from her cup; probably to hide her smile. Ino met his eyes with a smug smile, letting him know she could call him out whenever she wanted. He grunted, brushing past her to door,

"See ya." The door slammed shut behind him, leaving Ino alone with the Hokage and her assistant. There was a long pause as Ino and Tsunade caught each other's eyes.

"You understand that I can't afford to send you out of the village right now, don't you?" Ino sighed, running her hands through her hair and tugging at her ponytail,

"I know. It's just frustrating." Tsunade gave her a small smile, a rare moment of understanding from the fiery woman. She motioned at Shizune and took hold of the paper she was offered.

"Well if it makes you feel better, I'll be keeping you busy," she said, handing the paper to Ino.

"I'm going to have you training Shikamaru's team while he's in Sunagakure, alongside your own team. Getting them ready for the Chunnin exams and working on their general ability will be your priority. Understood?"

Ino raised an eyebrow as she looked over the training information for Shikamaru's team; they seemed significantly less able than her own team. There was no real standout like Kana was on her team, they seemed like a very average team overall.

"You want me to train both teams?" she said reluctantly, re-reading the data; at least they weren't stupid. Tsunade gave her a stern look,

"It won't be that difficult. Stop complaining." Ino tugged at her ponytail again, staring down at the paper, giving a distracted sort of noise. She folded up the paper and tucked into her pocket, glancing up to see Shizune picking up the sword and wrapping it up carefully.

"I guess I'll get out of here then," Ino said calmly, stretching and wincing as her ribs twinged again. Tsunade shot her a calculating look at she turned to go,

"Make sure you get checked out by Sakura. It's part of the new procedure for all missions involving combat." Ino pulled a face,

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Geez."

* * *

"Man, Ino. You really screwed this up."

Ino was sitting on the cold medical table in a huff while Sakura floated around her, checking her over with an annoyingly superior expression. The pink-haired kunochi tutted like a mother proven right,

"Wow, Ino. How did you even do that?" Ino shot her a glare as Sakura studied her side, prodding at her repaired ribs.

"You managed to create a circulating chakra system around your ribs that's completely isolated from the main network. It's actually really impressive," she murmured. She looked up to see Ino glaring at her,

"Right. I'll get onto that" Sakura said with an apologetic smile. She laid her hand against Ino's ribs and began channelling chakra with a thoughtful expression. After a long pause, as Ino tried not to struggle under the strange feeling, Sakura spoke again.

"Have you talked to Naruto recently?" Ino shot her a look of surprise,

"No, not really. Last time I talked to him properly was when we went to the Akimichi barbeque place. Why?" Sakura pursed her lips, adjusting her hand position slightly.

"He spends all his time doing his Hokage training. I haven't even seen him in about two weeks," she said quietly. Ino cocked her head as she thought, staring down at the floor,

"That's what he wants to do though, right? Be the greatest Hokage ever?" There was a long pause as Sakura concentrated on controlling her chakra.

"I don't know anymore," she said, and Ino was shocked to find she actually sounded upset, "It doesn't seem like he's happy when you get him away from it all." Ino thought back to his reaction after the lunch they had a few weeks ago.

"Yeah, he was kinda weird after lunch the other week. Not sad really just...frustrated maybe?" she said, biting her lip thoughtfully. Sakura looked up at her, green eyes glistening,

"Yeah, that's it. Frustrated." The pair thought over the problem for a long second.

"Any idea why?" Ino asked, crossing her legs over themselves to stop from squirming. Sakura shrugged,

"I haven't heard anything. And he doesn't really talk to me anymore." She avoided Ino's gaze, focusing on fixing the mess created by Ino's rush job. Finally, she spoke again.

"Just...see if you can talk to him?" Ino studied the top of Sakura's head as she studied her ribs, surprised by the worry in her voice.

"Sure, forehead."


	11. Chapter 11 - Team Six

_Pandabot: Good day to you, ladies and gentlemen of fanfiction. Here we are again with a new chapter of Ino: Shippuden. This is one of those chapters that doesn't really have much effect on the story except to introduce some characters. Specifically, Shikamaru's team of genin. I kind of enjoyed writing it so I hope that you at least kind of enjoy reading it. Well, read and review etc. Panda love to y'all._

* * *

**Chapter 11: Team Six**

Ino blew out a breath as she watched the two separate teams stretch out, going through their own particular routines. Yomiko and Kana were leaning against each other as they stretched, chatting amiably while Kazuki looked utterly focused on his own movements. They really had come a long way from the bickering, petty team Ino had started with. And to think that all she had to do was to take them to visit a few graves and almost die to achieve team harmony.

Unless she missed her guess, Team Four was already more than ready for the next Chuunin exams. They were all strong and smart, each with their own individual strengths and weaknesses, and they were all brave. Especially Kana. She was easily ready to be a Chuunin, more ready than Ino herself had been when she had been promoted. By contrast, Team Six had started arguing among themselves again.

Ino sighed as she opened her mouth to shut the two boys up but, before she could get any words out, a quick pair of slaps from the smaller female member cut off the heated voices.

"Kami, will you two shut up?" Ino raised her eyebrow at the small girl, her short, fiery red hair bouncing around her head. Hijame Tonoma, the datasheet had called her, a girl who apparently specialised in using poisoned blades to kill or paralyze her opponent. And, looking at her, you wouldn't think of her using any other means. There was something about her, maybe her cool blue eyes or the perfectly balanced stance; she practically oozed danger. The silent, sudden, deadly kind.

The two boys, apparently cowed by the blow of authority from their feminine companion, stared away from each other resolutely, arms folded in a silent protest. Tenzo Dashiro, the long white overcoat covering almost his entire body, with only his black hair and dark eyes peeking over the collar. He was dark, like rock in shade, his big hands poking out from his sleeves like rocks.

Akihiro Miko was the exact opposite in almost every way, pale skin, blonde hair, odd grey eyes. Slim, tall, dressed in very minimal shinobi uniform. They were polar opposites, clashing personalities; they would be a nightmare.

Ino took a quick glance at her team, relieved to see them sharing an amused glance at the disorganised team next to them; she really didn't need them to act up today too.

"Well, if you're all ready, let's get started on today's exercise" Ino said, reaching back to check on her ponytail. Her team was immediately eager and ready to go, probably still fired up from the mission in the Land of Rivers. Again, Team Six looked barely interested, focusing on their own little mess. The girl, Hijame, spoke up assertively, reminding Ino so much of herself back in the days of Team Ten.

"Ino-sensei, why is the lazyass not training us? He didn't tell us anything!" Ino sighed at her complaint; she really didn't expect anything less from Shikamaru. She scratched her head, pulling a highly unimpressed face.

"Your sensei," she said, choosing to ignore her disrespect for her teacher, "has been sent on a mission to Sunagakure and it may be too difficult for you to complete." She sighed again,

"I get you guys until he gets back," she said with the barest hint of resignation. Both teams looked at each other uncertainly and the pale Akihiro spoke up with certain distaste.

"I heard that our top Jōnin are heading out on missions, which is why Shikamaru-sensei is gone. That must make you one of the lesser ones, right?" Ino raised a single eyebrow and studied him closely, staring him down as Kazuki fired up.

"No way! Ino-sensei rocks! She killed a criminal from the bingo book on our last mission!" he shouted with almost violent enthusiasm. With a quick glance, Ino could tell her team were very unimpressed by the pale boy's comment; better not set up any sparring today. Plan B it is.

"It's Akihiro, right?" she said in a bored tone, doing her best to emulate Shikamaru's own way of speaking. The boy nodded with a quick movement.

"Well, Akihiro, today we will be conducting an exercise that you might not understand at first. Or you might not understand the reason for it anyway." She glanced up from her explanation to the unfamiliar team, meeting the glinting eyes of Tenzo.

"Here's the scenario," she said, drawing herself up to her full height and staring intently at Team Six, "Shikamaru is hurt. Badly. He won't be able to move well enough to escape but if you run you won't get a mile. What do you do?"

There was a long silence as the team looked at her expectantly.

"You protect him, right? So he can organise an attack?" Ino prompted with a hint of annoyance; _this is Shikamaru's team?_ The team glanced at each other and Ino reached into her weapons pouch and withdrew a kunai. She quickly tied a small blue ribbon to the weapon and tossed it to Kana.

"Kana," she said calmly, "I want you to throw that somewhere on the field. Preferably away from us." The blonde girl barely hesitated; launching the kunai with devastating accuracy at the three Taijutsu training poles where the clock had been left again.

It thudded into the centre of the middle pole, the ribbon waving madly for a second before it fell flat against the pole. Ino pointed at the pole,

"That is Shikamaru," she said firmly, "You have one minute to come up with a plan to defend him." Hijame looked alarmed that they were suddenly being tested,

"Who from, sensei?" Ino gave her a hard look,

"Me. Now get moving."

She hadn't really expected the team to get themselves organised as quickly as her own team would have done but she certainly didn't expect the mess that followed. Hijame ran off on her own, lightly bouncing over the dirt towards the taijutsu poles. Akihiro and Tenzo wandered along in her wake, arguing among themselves over Kami-knows-what.

Ino heard her team beginning to talk quietly among themselves; if she knew Kana, the blonde girl would be mocking Team Six. She shot them a warning look,

"Stay awake. You're next," she growled. They looked suitably cowed and Ino looked back to see Team Six arranging themselves loosely around the pole that represented Shikamaru. Ino almost sighed at them; they were asking to be taken out in that formation. The girl was clearly their only taijutsu fighter, why was she hiding behind the other two?

_This is ridiculous. What has Shikamaru been doing with these three?_ She paused a second longer, eyeing the three - maybe they would move if she gave them another few seconds to get organised. She immediately regretted that decision as that stupid, smug, arrogant little girl called across the intervening space.

"Don't worry, sensei! We'll go easy on you!" There was a long pause as Ino stared at them incredulously - _They actually think they have a chance in that formation_. She shook her head in disbelief, this would be over in seconds.

Over the last three years, Ino had worked with Kakashi on her battle style; specifically on the use of clones and lightning fast, precise attacks to minimise chakra usage. After all, they couldn't all have insane reserves like Naruto. The upshot of all that training was that Ino could move as fast as Kakashi when she wanted to and he was one of the fastest shinobi around.

As a result, when she charged, they didn't even manage to finish their handseals before Ino shot between Tenzo and Akihiro and grabbed Hijame by the arm. She twisted, pulling the small girl around her and pivoting as she drew a kunai with her left hand. Off-balance and taken by surprise, the team barely had more than a second to react before Ino completed her turn and planted the kunai into the pole that was Shikamaru.

After a beat of silence Ino sighed, straightening up and releasing Hijame's arm; the team looked like they were in shock. Even her own team looked surprised - they wouldn't have seen how fast she really could move. Even fighting Kirin she hadn't used her full speed - it hadn't been the right way to handle that fight.

"You just got Shikamaru killed," she said harshly, yanking the kunai from the pole and glaring at the suddenly cowed genin. A harsh lesson maybe, but it is something they had to experience to really understand.

"Do you even know what you did wrong?" she asked calmly, eyeing Hijame in particular. As the group shook their heads in embarrassment, Ino walked past them, motioning to her own team.

"Get over here. Defensive formation C around the pole." They leapt forward, quickly arguing among themselves and debating over placement. They passed Ino as she led Shikamaru's team away from the pole; Yomiko looked pale and scared. Apparently she had been more ruthless than she realised.

She turned and watched as Kana and Yomiko took up positions either side of the pole, Kazuki directly in front, already in his stance. She waved at the formation, not bothering to look at Team Six,

"Tell me what the difference is here." After a long pause, Tenzo spoke up in a quiet voice,

"It's a standard defensive formation in the shape of a triangle." Ino pulled a face,

"True, but that's not what I meant. Look at where Kazuki is standing." The group stared at Kazuki, studying his placement but they didn't speak up.

"Why is he standing in that position?" Ino questioned, fighting back the impatience in her voice. The more she saw, the more she became convinced that Shikamaru hadn't taught them a damn thing.

"To intercept attacks coming from the front?" Hijame offered nervously. Ino nodded at her, giving a warm smile,

"It's to stop exactly what just happened. Your formation allowed me to ignore Akihiro and Tenzo and go straight for you and the pole. There are situations in which it would be a good formation but you need to learn how to pick and choose."

"Really, Shikamaru should be teaching you this," she said, pursing her lips, "but I know what he's like." It was just like him to not put any effort into training his team. Sure, he would keep them safe but it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.

Ino was suddenly put into a very awkward situation - she could cover for Shikamaru, one of her oldest friends, and train his team for him while he was gone. Or she could report him, which is what she should do by the laws of the Leaf Village, report the one remaining member of her team to the Hokage.

She sighed angrily, putting her hand to her head and shaking it sadly - that idiot. She ran her eyes over the three young genin who stood in front of her, confidence shattered.

"Look," she said slowly, "it's not your fault that Shikamaru is too lazy to train you properly. So we're going to do another exercise, focusing on teamwork. You can learn from my team as we go." Ino wasn't surprised when they didn't look impressed but she was doing them a favour, essentially slowing her own team's training to help another team.

She waved at her team, motioning them over to her and Team Six as she reconsidered her training plan for the day. Looks like sparring is back on the agenda.

* * *

"Alright, so here are the teams. Kana, Kazuki and Hijame are on one team, leading attacks on the defensive unit. Kana, you are in charge of that team." The blonde girl nodded sharply as Hijame glared at her.

"The other team is Yomiko, Tenzo and Akihiro. You will be defending me." She paused and looked at her defending team, locking eyes with her own student,

"Yomiko, you're in charge. Show me what you've got." The girl swallowed hard but nodded, some of that confidence leaking through. Ino tugged at her ponytail thoughtfully,

"And the rules. Kazuki, no using your Lightning Barrage technique. You can't keep relying on it in a fight." The boy nodded acquiesce.

"Yomiko, you make all decisions on your team. Don't ask me; don't even think of asking me. You are leading and that's it." The dark-haired girl nodded again but looked much less confident than before. It was important that she learned to trust herself, especially before the Chunnin exams. Ino shot glances at Tenzo and Akihiro,

"That means you two listen to her. You don't want to piss me off." Akihiro merely raised an unimpressed eyebrow and Tenzo made no visible reaction - they would learn in time. There was a reason Shikamaru still tried to keep Ino happy when they were around each other and it sure as hell wasn't out of some sort of repressed romantic affection. She shook her head; Kiba could be seriously stupid at times.

"And the last rule. We have five minutes to escape and get ourselves organised and then the exercise begins. Understood?" The genin nodded almost as one, Kana shooting Yomiko a wink. The Jōnin looked to her student,

"Well then, Yomiko. Let's get moving shall we?" The girl nodded quickly, swallowing hard, and addressing the group at large,

"Y-yeah. Let's go."

Ino was happy to follow the genin as they leapt through the trees, keeping her eyes on Yomiko. The dark-haired girl was looking good so far, head turning as she tried to find a good spot to defend from. It would be interesting to see how she handled leading the team, especially a team of genin she didn't know.

She held up her hand in the halt signal and stopped on the next branch, crouched readily. As the team stopped around her, Yomiko spoke up seriously.

"I need to know what skills you two have. Kana and Kazuki are very good so I need to know what I have to work with." Ino hid a smile at the confidence and command in the tone; she had been right about this girl. She could be very good in the future.

"Ino Yamanaka. Jōnin specializing in taijutsu and ninjutsu." Yomiko nodded, turning to her with those serious eyes she so rarely showed.

"You are the target so you need to stay close to us. Try not to get caught up in extended fights." Ino was surprised with the authority behind the command but nodded all the same, giving an approving smile. Yomiko turned away as Tenzo spoke with a bored tone,

"Tenzo Dashiro. Genin specializing in ambush based earth-style jutsu." Yomiko nodded shortly, biting her lip as she thought carefully over the possible applications of an ambusher in a defensive team. Akihiro made a reluctant grunt.

"Akihiro Miko. Shadow style user." Yomiko shot him a glance and bit her lip in thought for a long second, planning her skills with what she knew of their opponents.

Ino smiled as she led them off again, looking determined and, most importantly, confident.

_This could be very interesting._


	12. Chapter 12 - Showtime

_Pandabot: Well, well. Hello again. Just a short little chapter to carry on with Shikamaru's team. Here's hoping you all enjoy the chapter._

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**Chapter 12: Showtime**

Ino stood in the shadow of the cliff, kunai held loosely at her side as she eyed the surrounding trees. Yomiko was stationed in one of the trees, back to back with Tenzo as she looked around alertly, hair swishing softly. The dark shinobi at her back looked still and quiet as ever, the only sign of movement the swivelling of his dark eyes.

Akihiro stood by Ino's side, arms folded and looking thoroughly unimpressed by the turn of events that had led to him having to wait quietly with her. Of course, it wasn't really him; it was actually a clone with the real him cleverly hidden behind one of Yomiko's illusory Genjutsu halfway up the cliff in a little alcove.

The idea was that Yomiko and Tenzo would put up real resistance and try and draw Kana into the open. Kazuki and Hijame, being Taijutsu specialists, would naturally be forced to engage Ino at close range, but Akihiro was supposed to get hold of Kana if he could with his Shadow Whip Jutsu.

It was a decent plan, one that Ino was very happy with, and for Yomiko to create it at such short notice was very impressive. Shikamaru probably could have created something better, Kakashi too, but with the timeframe and the units at her disposal Yomiko had done very well. Ino was proud of her.

Ino sensed them coming long before they arrived but she was determined to leave her defending team to their own devices as much as possible. It would be good for Yomiko to be put under pressure like this. By the time Yomiko finally sensed them coming they had already split into three, Hijame and Kazuki sweeping around the sides while Kana stopped directly ahead of the defensive group.

_Showtime._

The attack, when it came, was vicious and aggressive - exactly what Ino had expected from Kana. A huge gust of wind tore through the forest, sending the branches of the trees whipping around wildly. Yomiko and Tenzo were almost immediately unsighted by the mad winds as Hijame and Kazuki leapt from the undergrowth.

It was an effective tactic and would have worked brilliantly if Yomiko didn't know Kana. As it was, the pair disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind two logs that were instantly whipped away by the swirling winds.

The attacking pair continued moving, dashing past the logs without hesitation and scrambling for cover. Too late. Little balls of flame, courtesy of Yomiko's Phoenix Bloom Jutsu, chased after the running Kazuki, weaving through the trees in a remarkable display of chakra control.

Hijame hit the ground, hoping to stay out of view and immediately began to sink into the ground. Looking around, she saw the shape of Tenzo, half-hidden behind the trunk of a nearby tree, hands still together in a seal.

"Earth Style. Sinkhole Jutsu." She swore at him angrily, folding her arms in defeat; she knew this Jutsu too well to attempt an escape. Ino narrowed her eyes as she saw Yomiko direct her flames expertly, arcing around Kazuki in an attempt to drive him towards the cliff where Ino stood waiting.

She saw him narrow his eyes as he thought over the odd move, saw the gears grinding into motion in his head. Saw his eyes widen as he realised the trap, even as he threw a kunai at Akihiro's clone.

"Kana! No!" Had his shout come a few seconds earlier, it would have foiled Yomiko's plan, leaving Kana free to wreak havoc. Unfortunately for the attacking team, it came too late.

She flickered into view, wielding her fans to blow away the flames that had been chasing Kazuki. A split second later, a dark whip-like shape lashed out from the cliff face, wrapping around Kana's body and holding her tight. In the instant that Kazuki was distracted by the trap, Ino lunged forward at blinding speed to catch him by the arm and place a kunai to his neck.

The tableau froze in place as each of the attacking team realised just how badly they had been duped. Yomiko jumped onto the scene at the same time as Ino released Kazuki from her grip.

"You lose." The cute giggle that followed her statement was the first time that Yomiko had sounded genuinely pleased with herself and Ino had to bite back a laugh. Kazuki shrugged and laughed as well, turning to give the dark-haired girl a huge grin,

"Man, Yomiko. You got us good." Kana shot him a dirty look, still wrapped up Akihiro's Shadow Whip Jutsu,

"Who's side are you on?!" she shouted, struggling against her shadowy bonds. Ino shook her head in amusement,

"Easy, you two. I'd prefer no-one killed each other." Akihiro released his Jutsu, coming out from hiding behind Yomiko's Genjutsu.

"So it worked," he said with a certain note of grudging respect. Tenzo grunted quietly, hands in his sleeves with his arms folded carefully across his chest; Hijame prowled along in his wake, glaring coldly at Yomiko. The dark-haired girl was flushed with excitement, beaming around at her team mates and the other genin.

Ino shot her a proud smile as Kana picked herself up off the ground, muttering darkly to herself.

"Alright, kids. Gather round." She looked over them all as they gathered, judging reactions with a practiced eye. The two girls seemed to have taken the loss the worst but Kana was already getting over it, brushing herself off.

"That was a good exercise," Ino began, "it taught us the importance of knowing your enemy. Kana, tell me why your attack failed." The girl sighed,

"Because Yomiko knew what I was going to do before we did it." Ino tilted her head side-to-side in thought,

"Yes and no. Your attack was too blunt and simple. As a shinobi you must learn to look underneath the underneath; it's a very important lesson for you to learn." She paused and looked directly at Hijame,

"One of Shikamaru's favourite sayings is that 'The first move is always a feint'. It's a simple but effective way to lure an enemy into a trap - always make sure you have them before you launch your real attack." She looked up to see the group staring at her, each taking her words their own way.

"Alright, I think that will do for today. I want you guys to go and get some sleep. Team Six, I want you to meet us on training field twelve tomorrow morning at nine." She had barely finished when Hijame left in a huff, clearly very angry about today's training - Ino didn't envy Shikamaru, having to work with her.

Akihiro shot Yomiko a sideways look and sighed heavily, almost like it physically pained him, before he spoke up.

"Good plan." He walked away, shaking his head slightly, shoving his hands into his pockets. Tenzo was silent, merely inclining his head and following his team mate out of the clearing. Ino looked at her students with a smile,

"Well done today, you three. You dealt with them well." Kana pulled a face and shook her head,

"Ugh, whatever. Later." She leapt away into the trees, leaving the three left behind struggling to contain their amusement. It wasn't really funny, but there was a strange sort of humour in the way Kana was so annoyed at losing the contest. Yomiko, surprisingly, was the first to regain control.

"See you tomorrow, Ino-sensei," she said sweetly, practically dancing away on her little cloud of happiness. Ino was shaking her head in amusement when her last student spoke up seriously,

"Hey, sensei. Could you give me extra training?" Ino swung around in surprise, eyeing Kazuki carefully.

"More training?" He nodded staunchly, folding his arms,

"Yes, Ino-sensei." There was a long pause as Ino studied him in surprise, eyeing the determined young man.

"Any particular reason for this sudden need for extra training?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked at the ground for a long moment, fidgeting awkwardly under Ino's gaze as he struggled to get over his embarrassment. Just as Ino was about to prompt him he screwed up his face and the dam burst.

"Because Yomiko and Kana have all these awesome jutsu and all I've got is my Lightning Barrage but it's not good enough because I can only use it once and it's really dangerous to use and...and...I just want to get better."

Ino raised an eyebrow, surprised by his outburst; she hadn't known that he was so disappointed in himself. She stepped closer to him and placed a hand on his head,

"I can help you improve if you want. That's what I'm here for right?" He looked up at her with a wide grin,

"Thanks Ino-sensei!" She gave him a warm smile and reached into her trusty pouch, rummaging through for a second.

"One of the best ways to learn better Jutsu is to find out what chakra nature you have." Ino explained, finding what she was looking for with a soft 'aha!' Kazuki pulled a thoughtful face,

"You mean like Yomiko's Fire-Style or Kana's Wind-Style Jutsu?" Ino nodded withdrawing a simple square of paper,

"Exactly. They can use those Jutsu because their chakra natures are fire and wind respectively. You probably learnt this in the Academy but I remember what those lessons are like." She grinned, remembering the amount of time she spent, head in the clouds while Iruka lectured them on various topics. Kazuki rubbed his head in embarrassment,

"Uh, yeah. It could be pretty boring."

"Right, well you know that most Jōnin can use Jutsu from more than one element, right?" At his nod, Ino continued,

"My chakra nature is water. It tends to be a support element - most water-style jutsu is indirect. I also learnt how to use some lightning-style jutsu when I was training with Kakashi-sensei. Have you met him yet?" Kazuki looked uncertain for a moment,

"I don't think so." Ino looked thoughtful for a second,

"I might see if I can get him to work with you. Depending on your chakra nature he'd be a big help to your style of fighting. He'd be able to teach you how to use your chakra effectively much better than I can." Kazuki shrugged - he was willing to go along with whatever as long as it made him a better ninja.

"How do I find out which chakra nature I have?" Ino smiled and produced the paper with a flourish,

"With this." Kazuki stared at it for a moment, looking thoroughly unimpressed before Ino handed it to him.

"This is a special kind of paper that can tell you what sort of chakra nature you have," she explained, remembering her own expression when Kurenai had shown her the paper, "water, lightning, fire, earth or wind. Just run some chakra through to your hand and we'll see."

Kazuki holding the paper uncertainly between his finger and thumb, frowned as he focused his chakra. After a second, the paper suddenly crumpled in towards his fingers; Ino nodded.

"Lightning it is." Kazuki looked at her, tearing his eyes from the crumpled paper under his fingers,

"Can you teach me some Jutsu, sensei?" Ino thought for a moment; though she knew some of the Jutsu, lightning style wasn't one of her stronger elements. She could probably teach him a little but Kakashi would be much more suited to the job. But he was out until he came back from the mission to the Lightning Country. Ino sighed,

"Lightning style really isn't my strongest area, Kazuki. I can teach you one or two jutsu but this is Kakashi's area really." Kazuki's eyes lit up,

"You can teach me some new Jutsu?!" Ino shot him a look, biting her lip thoughtfully,

"Maybe. Your chakra control needs to get a lot better before then. Lightning style Jutsu can be very dangerous if you don't have full control of your chakra." He nodded eagerly,

"I'm gonna practice all night! See ya later, Ino-sensei!" He leapt away at light speed, disappearing before Ino could get another word in. She tugged at her ponytail; she had been about to help him with his control. She should really go after him, the tips would be invaluable.

_Ugh._


	13. Chapter 13 - Unwelcome News

_Pandabot: Hey, hey, here comes another chapter of Ino: Shippuden. Just a bit of set up for the main storyline and for Naruto's arc. Enjoy!_

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**Chapter 13: Unwelcome News**

"Lightning Style! Lightning Shuriken!"

Buzzing through the air, six shuriken cut straight through a tree, whizzing away into the undergrowth. Ino turned to the genin at her side and motioned with her head,

"That is what it does when you get it right." He had been struggling with the Jutsu for the last week, interspersed with training with Team Four, Kana and Yomiko. Ino could tell what the problem was, it was obvious. He had very poor chakra control and it was affecting his ability to infuse the right amount of chakra into his own shuriken when he threw them. She motioned to the tree where he had been practicing, covered in shuriken.

"You're on the right track. You just aren't using your chakra properly yet. Remember you need to use tight coils." He grimaced and blew out a heavy breath,

"It's so hard to remember all of that when I'm doing the hand seals and stuff too," he complained tiredly. Ino held back a smile giving him a look,

"That has to be second nature when you're a shinobi. Come on, try it again." He sighed and took a deep breath, withdrawing the shuriken from the weapon pouch Ino had got him a few days ago. He ran through the hand seals, face creased in concentration,

"Lightning Style! Lightning Shuriken!" The shuriken barely looked electrified as it flew through the air, thudding into the trunk of the tree. Ino shook her head impatiently,

"Kazuki, you really need to focus. You aren't using your chakra effectively at all." He hung his head and Ino sighed, tugging at her ponytail as she thought. His main problem seemed to be creating the coils required to use lightning style Jutsu. Admittedly, it wasn't an easy skill to master but he should be better by now.

Ino bit her lip thoughtfully, reaching into her pouch and withdrawing a long length of wire used in shuriken traps.

"Here," she said shaking out the wire so it unfolded from its small coil, "Look at this for a second." She held the wire by one end and began to spin it, forming a constant helter skelter-like shape along the wire. Then, when she was sure she had his attention, she dropped the end she was holding letting it fall to the ground where it fell into an approximation of a coil.

"Try doing that with your chakra. Let it spiral through you and then compress it in your chest." Kazuki frowned for a second then put his hands together in a seal used to focus chakra. He took a few breaths then began to run through the hand seals for the Jutsu. He reached into his pouch again as he reached the end of the string, withdrawing three shuriken.

"Lightning Style! Lightning Shuriken Jutsu!"

He threw and Ino could immediately sense that it was much better. Three weapons thudded into the trunk of the tree, drilling at least halfway into the wood before sticking, leaving small dark holes in their wake. Ino shot him a smile,

"See? That's pretty much it. Now it's just a matter of practice to get it perfect." He grinned tiredly up at her and she amended her statement,

"But maybe we should have a quick break first." He nodded and plopped to the dirt, laying back to stare straight up at the sky as it slowly turned red. Ino sat next to him, allowing him to get his breath back, letting the wind pull gently at her ponytail.

"So," she began eventually, "You and Yomiko. What's going on there?" Kazuki almost swallowed his tongue as he flew upright, blushing bright red.

"W-what?! There's nothing going on there!" Ino fought back a laugh at his panic, landing a calming hand on his head,

"Alright, alright. Just thought I'd ask." She fell silent for a few minutes as he spluttered to himself, mumbling something inaudible.

"Can I give you one piece of advice though?" she asked, waiting until she had his attention before she spoke again.

"Never let a good woman go, alright?" He continued mumbling to himself, probably denying everything under the sun, so Ino sighed.

"Come on then, let's keep training."

* * *

Ino cracked her neck as she fished the key to her apartment out of her pocket, balancing a paper bag of groceries in her other arm. It had ended up being a long day, first training with Shikamaru's team on their teamwork and planning, then training with her own on basic escort exercises and then helping Kazuki with his Jutsu.

The door was unlocked. She immediately tensed up; why was the door unlocked? She had definitely locked it when she left that morning and the apartment was almost new so the lock couldn't be broken.

She withdrew a kunai from her pouch and ran through a string of hand seals - she was still on edge after Kirin's ambush. She would be damned if she got caught out again.

"Water Style. Water Clone Jutsu." The clone gave her a nod and slipped into the apartment, kunai held ready. Ino waited for a long moment, tensed and ready. Finally, the door opened again and her clone walked out shaking its head,

"It's just the idiot." Ino frowned in confusion and released the jutsu, poking her head into the apartment; unbelievable.

Naruto was crashed out on the couch, snoring loudly, arm hanging down the floor. Ino shook her head in disbelief, grabbing her bag of groceries from the ground and heading inside. As she passed the couch she reached into the bag and withdrew an apple, tossing at Naruto.

"Wake up idiot," she said, as the apple hit him in the face. He shot awake with a yell of surprise as Ino lugged the bag into the small kitchenette.

"Ino? Is that you?" She stuck her head out of the kitchen for a moment,

"Who else would it be? In my apartment?" He grinned in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his head as he sat up on the couch,

"Oh yeah, right." He yawned and swung himself to his feet as Ino withdrew her head back into the kitchen,

"I came round earlier but you weren't home so I just thought I'd wait here for you. Guess I fell asleep." Ino shook her head as she floated around the kitchen, putting food away - there was no need to state the obvious. Naruto stepped over to the entrance of the kitchenette,

"We had word from Kakashi-sensei." Ino paused, frozen in the act of putting away a bottle of milk - this was the moment she had been dreading. If it turned out Sasuke did want her dead, her career as a Jōnin was effectively over. She would never be able to leave the Leaf village in safety again.

"Darui is dead." Her head whipped around, shock splashed across her features,

"What? How?" Naruto sighed, leaning against the wall,

"It was the same group that attacked you. They attacked Kakashi-sensei too." Ino, wide-eyed and gaping, jumped in surprise,

"Is he alright?" Naruto smiled sadly,

"Yeah, he's ok. Whoever they sent wasn't strong enough to fight Kakashi-sensei." Ino breathed a sigh of relief then cringed, sending a look of sympathy Naruto's way. She knew that he and Darui had hung around together for a little while after the war had ended when the army was still camped out together; they had become pretty close.

"Are you ok?" she asked, placing the bottle of milk down. Naruto shrugged uncertainly,

"I don't know. It's hard to get my head around." Ino eyed him carefully, tilting her head to one side as she studied him,

"Go sit down. I'll make us some tea and ramen." His face lit up at the mention of ramen and he smiled at her, stepping away from the kitchen. Ino bit her lip, remembering her conversation with Sakura a couple of weeks ago about Naruto and how distracted he had been. It was the perfect opportunity to talk to him about everything that was going on with him.

He was lying on the couch when she re-entered the room, staring up at the ceiling with a distracted expression. She placed down the tray of tea on her table, slipping back into the kitchen to grab the miso ramen and garden salad she had made for the two of them.

"Naruto. It's ready."

He rolled off the couch slowly and wandered over to the table, sliding into the wooden chair and inhaling the steam rising from the bowl appreciatively. Watching him, Ino saw the weight fall from his shoulders and he relaxed, grabbing his chopsticks readily.

Good. Ino smiled as she slipped into her own seat across from Naruto, picking up a fork and pulling her salad towards her. She didn't know how to broach the subject of Darui - she didn't know how close they had gotten over the few weeks after the war - so she decided to cut to the chase. That was more her style anyway.

"Sakura's worried about you, you know." He paused, looking up from his ramen before he looked down and continued eating. Ino took a delicate bite of her salad, watching him closely,

"I am too." He paused again and sighed heavily, placing down his chopsticks. Ino pressed on, putting her fork down,

"You haven't been yourself lately. What's going on with you?" He shook his head, faking an easy smile,

"It's nothing. Just working too much, I guess." Ino leant forward, holding his gaze with her own,

"You got everything you wanted right? You're gonna be the next Hokage, you're the hero of the Leaf..." She trailed off as Naruto let an expression of distaste cross his face for a second, a split second really.

"You don't think that you're the hero of the Leaf Village?" There was a long pause as Naruto stared down into his ramen and Ino watched him.

"If I'm this big hero, why couldn't I help Sasuke?"

_So this is all about Sasuke? Still?_ Ino frowned at the mention of their former classmate, unable to keep the distaste out of her voice.

"Why do you still want to save him?" Naruto's gaze flew up, locking onto her own, and she could finally see how much it ate at him, how much it ruled him. How much Sasuke ruled him.

"He's my comrade. That will never change, no matter what. I can't give up on him, not yet."

There was a long pause as Ino and Naruto stared at each other over food they were ignoring, Naruto glaring in genuine anger. There was something admirable about his loyalty to his former teammate, his determination to save him. It was completely Naruto.

It was just as unhealthy.

"Naruto," Ino began softly, "Sasuke chose his path. He chose to betray us." With a jolt, Ino realised that it was the first time she had referred to him as anything but Uchiha or the traitor since the war. Naruto shook his head but didn't say anything; he had probably heard it all before anyway.

Ino stood from the table and moved around to his side of the table, laying a hand gently on his shoulder.

"Naruto, you saved my life at the end of the war. Even if you don't think so, you're a hero. To me." She squeezed his shoulder, feeling him sigh sadly,

"I-I think I'm gonna go," he said quietly, getting to his feet. Ino looked at him sadly as he brushed past her, making his way to the door.

"Naruto," Ino said, unmoved from her position by his chair, "Just...remember what I said, ok?" He didn't look back, pulling open the door and stepping outside,

"Yeah. See ya later, Ino."

He leapt away into the encroaching night, leaving Ino staring out of the door where Naruto had been. She thought back over the conversation, digging into the details like her training had taught her and it suddenly became clear.

That look in his eyes when he was defending Sasuke, the subtle movements of his hands. She was sure that Sasuke was playing on his mind, which was natural.

But he had lied to her.

_Naruto, what's going on with you?..._


	14. Chapter 14 - Trouble, Trouble

_Pandabot: Hey there everybody. Welcome to yet another chapter of Ino: Shippuden. I hope everyone's still enjoying the story and the characters etc. So anyway, this chapter isn't really that important. It's kind of a bridge chapter into the start of the next arc. So read, review and enjoy._

**Chapter 14: Trouble, Trouble**

A week later and Shikamaru's team had barely made any progress as a team. Individually they were fine, much better than they had been, but Hijame still spent more time ordering the team around then working with them. Akihiro was still trying to do things alone and Tenzo was still unresponsive to everything around him.

It was driving Ino mad and, currently, she was covering her face in disbelief as yet another team exercise went horribly wrong and her own team waltzed through Team Six's defenses to assassinate their target with ease. If anything, they were getting worse.

"Get out of my way, you idiot!"

"Your way?! You jumped in front of me!"

Hijame and Akihiro were currently nose-to-nose, screaming at each other. Tenzo stood off to one side watching impassively, arms folded while Team Four shook their heads in exasperation at yet another argument. It was all starting to get annoying.

Ino exploded.

"ALRIGHT, ENOUGH!"

Silence immediately fell as Hijame and Akihiro looked around in surprise, swallowing hard at the look of undisguised fury on her face.

"I have HAD it with you three! You aren't shinobi! You're a joke!" Ino growled angrily, shaking her head.

"Playing with kunai and jutsu...This does not make you a ninja! Fighting and dying and killing, that is the life we live. And no matter how good you _think_ you are, you can't do it alone!" There was a long pause as the members of Team Six looked shell shocked; Kazuki and Kana looked annoyingly superior in the back of the group. Finally, a familiar, lazy voice came from the trees above their heads,

"It's troublesome but she's right." Ino looked up in surprise at the sound, smiling as Shikamaru gave her an impassive nod, crouching in the trees. He looked dirty and tired; he must have just made it back to the village. He dropped from the trees and hit the dirt next to Ino,

"Leaf Village shinobi work in teams. That gives us the best chance for survival on the missions we take on. If you can't work as a team, I'll just send you back to the Academy. You guys are troublesome anyway."

Ino half-expected Hijame to start arguing with Shikamaru but apparently the threat of being sent back to the Academy was too high a price to pay. They at least had the decency to play at looking ashamed even if the facade was awfully see-through. Ino closed her eyes, forcing herself to remain calm as Shikamaru grunted.

"We're training tomorrow. Now get out of here," he said bluntly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. After a long tense moment, Shikamaru's team left all at once, bowing under the cold look of their sensei. He sighed, lighting up a cigarette,

"Troublesome..."

Looking at her own team, Ino figured they may as well leave as well too; they weren't going to do any significant training today. Before she could speak, however, Shikamaru exhaled a puff of smoke and spoke lazily.

"You should leave too. I gotta talk to Ino." Her genin looked at Shikamaru in surprise before looking to Ino for confirmation. She nodded and Kazuki shrugged, saying something quietly to Yomiko who nodded and they leapt away. Kana stayed, frowning at Shikamaru in confusion.

"See you tomorrow, Kana" Ino said pointedly, forcing herself to ignore to smoke rolling around her head. With a final look the blonde girl left, leaving Shikamaru and Ino alone in the woods. He took another drag at his cigarette, blowing the smoke lazily with a sigh. Ino coughed,

"Dammit, Shikamaru. Will you put that thing out?" He gave her a calculating look then grunted, throwing it to the floor and standing on it.

"Troublesome..." he mumbled, shovelling his hands into his pocket. Ino shot him a look but didn't bother giving him a lecture about smoking; he only did it because it helped him stay connected with Asuma-sensei. Besides, she had more fun things to talk about.

"How did your trip go? Did you have fun with your girlfriend?" she teased, a smug little smirk making it's way across her face. Shikamaru rolled his eyes but didn't say anything and Ino giggled,

"That's so cute. I bet you and Temari didn't get any planning done, did you?" She had forgotten how fun it was to tease him about her. As sexist as he was, he still loved her; it was adorable. He grunted,

"We got a little done. After she got out of hospital." Ino pulled back in surprise, a worried expression crossing her face, any thought of teasing disappearing out of the window.

"What? What happened?" His expression momentarily showed disgust but he managed to rearrange his face into it's usual bored expression.

"The day before I got there, someone attacked Gaara. Temari got hurt protecting him...You can imagine what Gaara did to them." Ino could imagine, not that she wanted to, but it just added to the scale of this threat. Assuming it was the same group, they were pretty fearless, going after Gaara and Kakashi.

"Is Temari ok?" Shikamaru grunted,

"Yeah, she's ok. Just angry at herself," he said in a bored tone that wasn't fooling anyone; she could only imagine his panic when he arrived and heard that Temari was in hospital after being attacked.

"Are you ok?" He gave her a strange look,

"I'm not the one who got injured," he said with brutal practicality. Ino gave him a look,

"You know what I mean." He merely grunted, his go-to response for most situations, but he didn't bother saying anything else. Ino, taking the moment to rearrange her ponytail for the fifth time that day, bit her lip.

"Looks like you were right then," she said, allowing a look of worry to cross her face. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Kakashi was attacked too. And they got Darui." Shikamaru looked surprised for a moment, after all Darui was the Raikage's right hand man and he was a very skilled ninja. Then his expression turned thoughtful and Ino could see his incredible brain click into gear.

"Was Darui the target or the Raikage?" Ino shrugged, Naruto hadn't mentioned it, probably thinking it unimportant or maybe Kakashi hadn't said. Shikamaru thought for a second,

"It sounds like they're going after important people from the war." Ino looked at him, understanding his reasoning,

"Right. They went after Kakashi who led one of the units and stopped Obito. They went after Gaara, the commander of the army. Darui, who stopped one of the most dangerous resurrected enemies, the Gold and Silver brothers. Or the target could have been the Raikage. Me?" Shikamaru nodded and gave her a calculating look,

"You re-directed the Juubi's attack so it missed the Shinobi Alliance. You helped finish it off. And you stopped Uchiha, even if it was temporary. Without you, he would have killed Naruto and then no-one could have stopped him." True enough, even if Ino rarely thought about it like that.

"Ok, so who would they go after next?" Shikamaru thought for a second,

"Tsunade? She's the only reason that the other Kage survived after Madara went to fight Naruto. Naruto is obviously a given but Sasuke is the only one who could handle fighting him, no matter how good the trap was."

Ino groaned, this was getting insane. Who the hell were these guys, going after some of the most powerful shinobi in the world? Shikamaru sighed,

"We can't figure this out alone. We need to wait until everyone else gets back and gather information." Ino nodded, and he kept speaking, pulling out another cigarette,

"Besides, the Chuunin exams are in two months." He yawned as he went to light his smoke and Ino raised an eyebrow,

"Have you even been home yet?" He shook his head, taking a drag and sighing contentedly; Ino groaned.

"You idiot. Your mom's gonna lose her mind if she knows you didn't go straight home." He blanched for a second before regaining his composure and grunting with displeasure,

"Ugh. I guess I'd better go." Ino rolled her eyes,

"Yeah maybe" she said, heavy on the sarcasm. He pulled a face, staring longingly at his cigarette; his mother hated him smoking anywhere near the house and she would smell it on him.

"Tch. See ya later Ino." He leapt away into the trees, leaving Ino shaking her head in disbelief; he really should move out of the house if he was that scared of his mother.

* * *

Deciding to work on her taijutsu in one of her rare moments of free time was a recent development; the Ino of five years ago probably would have thrown a fit. On her way to her favorite training ground she reflected on how she had changed. Losing Asuma and then Chouji had really driven home the realities of the shinobi world.

She grinned, energised by her first chunk of free time since she had taken on her team; she could hardly wait to start working on some new forms. Not that she was meant to use this training ground at all. It was actually supposed to be for Naruto and the other highly ranked jounin but it was hardly ever used.

It was also very well outfitted with specially reinforced poles for high level taijutsu techniques as well as automated attack dolls that could be triggered if the user wanted. On top of that, there was a stretch of stream that was perfect for working on her water jutsu.

She paused as she approached - there was already a chakra signature there, a massive one. A chakra that large could only ever be Naruto but she was surprised that he was here. It didn't seem like he got any time to train anymore.

She began to move closer, slowly approaching through the thick screen of trees; maybe she could get some sort of insight into his behaviour here. Now that she knew it wasn't just Sasuke that was playing on his mind.

She sat on a thick branch as she came to the edge of the training grounds, watching Naruto unleash on one of the poles. He had every attack doll on at the same time, forty five wooden dolls trying in vain to hit him. There was a certain grace in the way he fought, seeming to simply flow through the attacking dolls until he reached his target, Rasengan ready to go.

The spinning ball of chakra ripped the pole apart, literally tearing it to shreds under his hand. Instantly, he was back on the move as another pole sprung up from the ground, firing a short burst of senbon.

He actually blurred as he accelerated, moving easily past the needles as he formed another Rasengan, bigger than before, in his right hand. A split second later, he smashed into the pole and utterly destroyed it like before.

Before the wood had even hit the floor, Naruto had turned around and was plowing through the attack dolls, smashing them apart with his fists and feet with single-minded efficiency. It was a very impressive display but the mindless brutality of it worried Ino. It wasn't like Naruto.

As the last piece of splintered wood fell to the ground and Naruto stood still, facing toward her, eyes closed, Ino was finally able to make out the distinctive markings around his eyes that indicated Sage Mode. That explained the destruction if not the reason behind it.

"Are you going to sit there all day?"

She should have known he could sense her presence; it had been the main reason he could stop the Zetsu clones during the war. She grinned cockily as she leapt down from the tree, landing just inside the clearing.

"I didn't wanna get in your way. I like my face the way it is thanks." He laughed aloud, losing the eye markings and brushing a hand carelessly across his forehead; At least he's cheerful today.

"You never change Ino," he laughed, shaking his head. Ino shot him a grin, giving a mock-modest shrug,

"What can I say? I gotta keep up the looks. Who else would the boys chase?" He shot her an odd grin, almost indecisive about something. Ino decided she might jump ahead of him, keep his mind away from whatever it was that was eating him. After all, if there was one thing that Ino Yamanaka had mastered, it was the art of keeping boys distracted.

"Hey, can you teach me how to do that?" Naruto gave her an uncertain look as she stalked closer,

"Use Sage Mode? I don't know, if you get it wrong you get turned into a toad statue..." She gave him a strange look,

"A toad statue? Seriously?," she shook her head, "Wait, no, that isn't what I meant. I meant the Rasengan. Can you show me how to do it?" He raised an eyebrow at her sudden interest in what had become his signature jutsu. Suddenly his eyes widened and he leapt backwards, arms raised defensively,

"Woah!" There was a long pause as Ino stared incredulously at Naruto as he stood, ready to defend himself,

"What the hell are you doing?" After another few seconds he relaxed cautiously, giving her a huge grin and rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment,

"Sorry, I thought it was some crazy trap." Ino closed her eyes in disbelief, shaking her head and slapping a palm to her face,

"Are you always this stupid?" His embarrassment evaporated,

"Hey! I'm not stupid! I'm awesome!" Taking a deep breath, and deciding to pretend that the last few moments hadn't happened, Ino stepped forward again.

"Can you teach me the Rasengan or not?" she said, the slightest hint of irritation finding it's way into her voice. He pouted, folding his arms across his chest,

"Maybe I don't want to now." Ino smirked, sashaying closer,

"Oh, Naruto. You can't say no to me." She slid closer as he looked suddenly nervous, glancing around for an escape route. She let her eyelids bat lazily, drawing his attention back to her face, a small smile making it's way across it.

She grabbed hold of his wrist and stepped around him, pulling the arm with her. She yanked his arm up behind his back, hooking her fingers over the back of his collar. Then she placed her foot against the back of his knee and forced him to the ground.

"Told you," she said sweetly, leaning over him to look down into his face. He growled in annoyance but Ino tightened her grip slightly and tutted.

"Ah, ah. I'm in charge now" she said slowly, leaning a little closer. It shut him up, it always shut the boys up, but the look of defiance informed her that it was time to change her tactics.

She released his arm but before he could get up she draped herself over his shoulders, leaning close to his ear.

"Please?" she whispered and he blushed bright red. Suddenly Ino was aware of what she was doing. Flirting? With Naruto?

_What the hell am I doing?_

She pushed him away, flushing with embarrassment. There was a long awkward pause as Naruto slowly clambered to his feet, avoiding looking at Ino. He cleared his throat,

"Uh..." Before he could say anything, and Ino thanked the heavens above for the timely interruption, an ANBU leapt into the clearing. The mysterious ninja inclined their head at Naruto in an informal sort of bow before they turned to Ino.

"Ino Yamanaka. The Hokage wishes to see you." At her nod of acknowledgement, the ANBU leapt away, disappearing into the trees. Ino turned to Naruto,

"I've gotta go," she said awkwardly. He gave an awkward cough and a nod and Ino turned to leave. She leapt into the surrounding trees, awfully aware that Naruto was watching her back.

_What the hell just happened?_


	15. Chapter 15 - Risk

_Pandabot: I'm kinda embarrassed...This was intended to be part of a double upload thing, because this chapter is so short, but I totally forgot about it. Thanks go out to my beta Zerojackson, who got this chapter (and the last few) done overnight like a champ. If you haven't checked him out, I highly recommend 'Winds of Change'. It's an OC-drenched bonanza and most of them are kind of awesome. Go check him out. And read and review! And enjoy! Peace._

* * *

**Chapter 15: Risk**

Ino read over the mission details again, a frown furrowing her brow. Tsunade spoke again, tapping her fingers on the desk,

"This mission has been classified as an S-rank mission. You will have no backup or additional information available." Ino bit her lip, already beginning to plan her moves, just like Kakashi and Asuma had taught her.

It wasn't a mission she had to take, it wasn't even urgent, but if she didn't go then it would be someone else. She couldn't bring herself to do that.

_Mission Rank: S-Class_

_Proposed shinobi: Ino Yamanaka_

_Time Allowed: Two weeks_

_On the information gathered by Anko Mitarashi, we have found a possible member of the organisation that have been launching attacks on notable shinobi around the world. Using one of the surviving targets, we intend to ambush this member utilizing both (Ino Yamanaka) and Anko Mitarashi._

_It is imperative that this member be taken alive, ready for interrogation. This may require an on-the-spot interrogation or submitting to a capture attempt._

_Note: This mission is considered to be extremely dangerous. Voluntary involvement required._

"What do we know about the target?"

Tsunade and Shizune shared a glance before the Hokage leant forward, placing her elbows on the desk.

"Anko wasn't able to find out a lot, she only thinks that it could be him." Ino frowned,

"So do we know anything?" Shizune stepped forward, reading from a scroll,

"He carries a short sword of very fine make, just like the other attackers. Dark red hair, tall and thin. He seems pretty normal from the description." Ino thought for a moment,

"How are we going to co-ordinate our attack?" Tsunade and Shizune exchanged another glance.

"You aren't. You're the bait." There was a beat of silence and Ino raised an eyebrow,

"I won't know when the attack's going to come?" Tsunade took a moment to think over her answer,

"It's important that we don't spook the target before we can get any information from him." Whether she liked it or not, it was good reasoning. But being a target? That wasn't really Ino's style.

"I thought you wanted to keep me away from attacks," she commented dryly, not necessarily complaining, just buying more time to think. Tsunade shot her a look,

"I changed my mind." Ino thought for a long moment,

"So Anko is working separately?" Shizune nodded and Ino bit her lip; she knew how good Anko was at her job. It wasn't like she didn't trust Anko; it was just a huge risk. Was it worth it? Was it worth risking her life to get this information? She sighed; of course it was.

"I'll do it."

Shizune breathed a sigh of relief and Tsunade sat back with a smile.

"Good, we'll give you the rest of the day to prepare. Be careful, Ino." Turning to go, a thought occurred to her,

"What about my team?" Tsunade frowned for a moment, apparently having forgotten about the genin. Ino, fighting back a cringe, offered a suggestion.

"What about Naruto? He could probably use a distraction about now." Tsunade and Shizune exchanged a startled glance before the Hokage composed herself and nodded,

"Sure. I'll let him know." Ino nodded, leaving the room and pausing as the door shut behind her,

_What was that look about?_

* * *

Arriving back at her apartment after having dinner at her dad's place, she was a little exasperated to find a very familiar head of hair sitting patiently outside of her door. Though at least she had showed better manners than Naruto and not broken in.

"What's up, forehead?" The name, once a hated nickname, had somehow become a semi-insulting, semi-affectionate term for one of her oldest friends. They just accepted it, that's just how they were.

Sakura gave her a strange, calculating look, an expression Ino had never seen on her face before.

"Why is it," she began slowly, "that Naruto came into the hospital earlier and started asking me some strange questions?"

Ino winced, fishing her keys from her pocket; typical of Naruto to not let it go. She shrugged, trying, and failing, to look nonchalant.

"Oh you know Naruto. He's pretty weird sometimes." Sakura stood and brushed herself off, a highly unimpressed look on her face,

"Right. I'm sure that he came in and started asking about you on a whim." Ino winced again, luckily she was facing the door so Sakura missed it. She unlocked the door and walked inside, flicking the lights on as she unclipped her trusty pouch. Sakura followed her inside, pressing her point.

"And he always wants to know what it means when a girl says this or that. Seriously, what happened?" Ino shook her head, composing herself before she turned around and shrugged,

"It was nothing really, I was just playing with him." Sakura's eyes narrowed,

"Well don't. He doesn't need that." Ino raised an eyebrow at the hostility in her tone,

"What?" Sakura approached Ino, a serious expression on her face,

"He doesn't need you playing with him like he's some toy you're just gonna get bored with in a week." Ino immediately flared up at the insinuation, glaring at her occasional friend,

"Like you can talk! You led him on for years!" Sakura flushed angrily, advancing on Ino,

"No I didn't! He just chased me around for years! I didn't even try to lead him on!" She pulled up short and looked away sadly,

"It wasn't my fault." she said quietly. Ino exploded,

"You fucking told him you loved him! How the fuck is that not leading him on?!" Sakura's face twisted in fury,

"I had to! You think he would have let me go fight Sasuke if I didn't lie?!" Ino snorted in disbelief,

"Why did you even go and fight him alone?" There was a long pause as Sakura looked away, a look of sadness crossing her face,

"I had to. Naruto, he...Sasuke was driving him crazy. I...I had to." Ino stopped and studied Sakura, studied the hurt and determination and regret. She knew how much Sasuke's betrayal had hurt her too; she couldn't even imagine having to kill one of her teammates.

But Ino knew Sakura well, as well as anybody did, and she knew the kind of things that drove her. She knew what Sakura had been thinking and why she had lied; she had always been easy to read.

"Don't pretend you did it all for Naruto," she said quietly. There was a long moment of silence as Sakura and Ino stared at each other before Sakura turned to leave,

"Just...don't play with Naruto, ok? He needs better." Ino shook her head,

"Whatever, forehead." Sakura seemed like she was going to argue for a second then she just shook her head with a sigh and walked out the door, leaving Ino glaring at the encroaching night.


	16. Chapter 16 - Jolly Holiday

_Pandabot: Sorry about the wait for this chapter everybody. I didn't realise how long it'd been since I lasted posted something. Partly because I realised that some of the stuff I wrote more recently is total crap so I had to re-write it and I just got absorbed in that. But anyway, yeah, here's a chapter. You know what to do; R&R. Love_

* * *

**Chapter 16: Jolly Holiday**

"Good afternoon, Miss Yamanaka. Back again?"

Ino smiled at the young, polite girl who was the face of the most famous bath-house in the Land of Water; Moju no Mizu. What a face it was too. Ino knew that she was pretty, she often played it up, but this girl was something else. Long, brown hair surrounding a heart-shaped face, soft grey eyes; it was probably a good job that she worked on the women's side.

"What can I say? This place is amazing."

The girl laughed, a tinkling laugh that Ino was intensely jealous of; just think how the boys would react to _that_.

"We try our best, Miss Yamanaka."

The jounin slid into the interior, grabbing a towel as she went. She had spent the last two weeks basically on vacation, coming to the amazing bath-house and generally enjoying herself. There was a part of her that knew she was on-duty but, she mused as she slipped out of her clothes, it was hard to get too worked up about it when all she did was relax.

She wrapped the towel around herself and stepped out into the bathing area, inhaling the subtle scent of jasmine that grew along the edges of the establishment. Kami, she loved this place.

There was something absurdly relaxing about the place, the smells, the quiet lapping of water, the warmth of the water; it was beautiful. Slipping into the water and sighing softly, she frowned; this mission was taking a lot longer than expected. She knew the guy was still in the area from the few messages Anko had managed to sneak to her and she also knew that _he_ knew she was in the area.

So far, however, he hadn't made any attempt to attack, seemingly content to ignore her. While this was a welcome change from a brutal attack, it was a little frustrating; they had to capture the guy, after all.

_Ugh_. She settled deeper into the water, attempting to drift away on a cloud of relaxation the way she had been doing for the last two weeks. After a long moment, her eyes closed and a slow smile spread across her face; _There we go_.

Typically, the moment she found herself relaxing, she felt the water slosh as another body slipped into the water, uncomfortably close. She cracked open an eye and sighed in exasperation as she witnessed Anko, openly ogling her.

"What are you doing here, Anko?" she sighed, closing her eye again. Anko giggled and Ino could only imagine the leer that spread across the special jounin's face.

"I saw you getting in and I just couldn't resist," she purred, sliding closer to Ino. The blonde-haired jounin pushed her away, careful to miss everything important for fear of egging her on,

"Seriously, what's going on? Did he leave town?" Anko pouted but slid away from her a little, gaining a serious expression,

"No, Sahiro's still in town. That's his name, by the way. Sahiro Tetsukiko." Ino frowned,

"I don't think I've ever heard of him," she commented slowly. She was currently running through the bingo book in her head, trying to remember if she'd ever seen the name before. Anko shrugged,

"Neither have I. I guess he's just self-trained. Or trained by a rogue ninja." Ino hummed in agreement; it was actually more common than most shinobi, particularly Leaf Village shinobi, believed.

"Anyway," Anko continued, "I think we need to take more...aggressive action." Ino grinned; this was definitely more to her liking. She eyed the slightly psychotic ninja sharing her bathing pool,

"Go on."

* * *

Ino and Anko moved silently across the roofs of the town, easily keeping out of sight of their target. It was pretty hard to miss him too, with his dark red hair and the fact that he stood about a foot taller than everybody he passed. When Shizune had described him as tall, she had left out just how tall he was.

And the sword. It wasn't exactly usual civilian wear.

He looked very skeletal, his limbs strangely long and thin. Pale skin, pallid almost; he was a very creepy looking guy. Ino was observing his movements, trying to get a feel for his rhythm and how he tended to move; something she was an expert at.

She noticed that he tended to walk with minimal deviations, often forcing people to go around him. If anything, he seemed to be in his own little world, gliding along the street.

The plan from now on was fairly simple, wait until he got a little clearer of town and then Ino would hit him with her Mind Body Switch jutsu. Simple and to the point, much better in Ino's opinion.

Not that Anko was making it any easier with her constant commentary on other things she would rather be doing. Ino winced at one particular mental image; she was never going to look at Kakashi the same way again. Whoever knew he was that flexible?

_Oh Kami, the image is back. Get out, get out, get out_. She groaned and winced, causing Anko to look at her with a strange expression. Ino shot her a glare,

"Stop telling me about the stuff you and Kakashi get up to. It's giving me horrible mental images." Anko chuckled as they leapt to the next roof,

"Hey, if you want in next time, I'm sure Kakashi wouldn't complain," she purred, leering at Ino. Ino swiped at her, semi-playfully, semi-angry, and turned her focus back onto her prey. These were the moments she enjoyed most as a shinobi; the subtlety of the hunt, the tension as she waited for just the right moment to strike.

She frowned as she glanced ahead and saw the roofs were lower; it put them dangerously open to view from the ground. She motioned up ahead to Anko whose expression twisted thoughtfully.

"I'll be ready with a genjutsu for you. If I stay back on the roof, I can stay out of sight and set it if you signal me" she whispered quickly, judging distances with a practiced eye. Ino nodded, keeping her gaze on Sahiro; it was a little ham-handed but it would work.

It was important for Ino to have a clear view at all times so she could strike when an opportunity presented itself. A thought occurred to Ino and, with the roof they had left rapidly disappearing, she flicked a glance at Anko,

"Where is he going anyway? Is he leaving town?" Anko shrugged,

"Who cares? Just hit him when he gives you a chance." With that, she slipped away from Ino, already beginning to focus her chakra. Ino stopped on the edge of the roof, crouching low to allow Sahiro to move a little further ahead; she could see Anko pausing alongside her, eyes focused sharply on Ino's hands.

The next moment would be the most vulnerable, dropping down to a lower lever; she would be moving fast and be completely open to view. Hopefully, allowing Sahiro to move ahead would minimise the chance that he saw or heard them. A glint of light reflected off something in Sahiro's hand. Ino frowned,

_What the hell is that? A kunai?_ She narrowed her eyes, trying to see what it was but it was too hard to tell from that distance. Ino shrugged,

_That's one hell of a shiny kunai._ She dropped to the lower level, keeping her gaze focused on Sahiro closely. Anko stayed on the higher level for a moment, ready in case Sahiro noticed anything.

Not that he had. He seemed barely aware of anything around him, never mind the two shinobi following him from the roofs. Ino frowned; it was pretty odd behaviour for a shinobi, to be so incautious about walking through a town where you knew you had enemies.

Then again, there were some weirdos out there in the world, and none more so than some shinobi. You just had to look at the likes of Orochimaru - the creepy snake guy and Rock Lee - the insane workaholic.

She set off again, staying low to minimise her profile, keeping her gaze locked onto Sahiro's back. It shouldn't be too long for an opportunity to present itself now. They were heading into the outskirts of the town now. Though where he was going was still-

_Now!_ Ino's eyes widened as for a moment, the surrounding streets were totally clear and Sahiro paused to watch a leaf dancing across the sky on the breeze. She flew through the familiar hand-seals at lightning speed, feeling her heatbeat suddenly quicken;

"Ninja art," she said quietly, forming her hands into the final seal and framing her target, "Mind Body Switch Jutsu."

She felt the familiar, empty feeling as she left her body and flew across the intervening space to steal Sahiro's mind. Before she could however, she rebounded, firing back to her own body like a rubber band with an awful sickening feeling.

_What the hell?!_

She tried to regain her bearings desperately, fighting off blurry vision and nausea; she was aware of three projectiles firing through the air three inches to her left. A sudden impact knocked her to the roof, Anko tackling her to the flat wood as she threw a burst of shuriken at Sahiro.

Anko hooked her fingers into Ino's collar and rolled them both backwards, away from Sahiro's line of sight and temporarily out of danger.

"Ino, what the fuck happened?"

The blonde jounin shook her head, regaining her bearings as she fought back the nausea.

"I don't know. I just rebounded off something!" Anko pushed herself to her feet, kunai drawn and ready,

"Well then, guess we get to do this my way!" She didn't exactly sound too disappointed but Ino was still in shock; _What the hell _did_ just happen?_ She slipped to her feet slowly, staying low as she drew a kunai of her own. Sahiro was staring at them, a blank expression on his face,

"Did you enjoy my counter-attack, Ms. Yamanaka?" He spoke so softly and politely he could almost have passed for a boy; except for the sword he held loosely in his left hand. She glared at him,

"What the hell did you do?" A tiny smile crawled across his face at her furious demand,

"I merely showed you my kekkei genkai. Did you not enjoy it?" Ino growled in anger; typical. Just fucking typical. Of course _she_ gets the guy who has defenses on his mind. Anko leapt down to his level, typically cocky,

"Just give up, Sahiro. You can't fight us both alone." A small, sad smile replaced his previous expression,

"I would never fight you alone," he said cryptically. Anko moved readily and he burst into motion.

His hands flew through seals so fast that Ino couldn't see anything; there was merely a blur where his hands were. Her mouth dropped open at his speed and even Anko looked taken aback.

_Shit, he might be even faster than Kakashi!_ Sahiro suddenly knelt, placing both his palms flat against the ground;

"Ninja Art! Mirror Clone Jutsu!" Out of the dirt, two figures erupted, spraying earth everywhere. They looked like mirrors, loosely cut into the shape of humans, standing either side of Sahiro. In the middle of their heads, a red splotch sat, an intricate design that was reminiscent of a summoning scroll.

Sahiro stepped backwards as Anko hesitated, eyeing the two mirrors carefully. He flew through more hand-seals as fast as before, placing his hands against the back of the mirrors at head-height.

"Ninja Art! Reflective Eye Jutsu!" The mirrors rippled simultaneously, colour draining through them like paint running down a canvas. After a second, it became clear that they were both reflecting Anko, identical blank expressions on their faces. Anko reared back in surprise,

"What the fuck is this?!" Sahiro merely gave her a blank look,

"To die at your own hand. I understand that is shameful for a shinobi." As he finished speaking, the mirrors shattered and two fully-formed clones leapt at Anko, completely expressionless.

The uncertainty disappeared from Anko's face as she leapt forward, a savage grin replacing that unfamiliar uncertainty. She was in her element.

Kunai clashed and slid and Anko slid to a stop, twisting back to face the two mirror clones with a grimace on her face. One of the clones bent over with a grunt and shattered, bursting into glass shards that glittered as they fell to the ground. The other clone blinked once before it shattered too.

Anko suddenly fell to her knees, clutching her shoulder, face twisted in agony; still she did not cry out.

"Anko!" Ino had barely been able to catch the movement as the clones had struck at her with Anko's own specialty, the Striking Shadow Snakes Jutsu, as Anko had cut them to pieces with her kunai. She leapt to the ground below, standing in front of Anko protectively.

"...Ugh. Fucking bastard," Anko grumbled weakly, swaying slowly. Ino's mind was once again in overdrive, playing through everything that had happened as she studied Sahiro. She knew that Anko's snakes carried a deadly poison that worked quickly, although the antidote was common.

Ino glanced back at Anko, checking on her condition; she had thought that Anko was immune to poison. Sahiro, keeping that blank expression, spoke up,

"Too often," he said slowly, "A person's true enemy is themselves. Don't you agree, Ms. Yamanaka?" Ino frowned, watching him cautiously,

_So that's it. She isn't immune to her own snake's poison_. She reached into her pouch, horribly aware of Anko's breathing becoming ragged behind her; she slid backwards, careful to keep her eyes on the red-haired ninja in front of her.

"Here, take this." She knelt and reached behind her, offering a special food pill that Sakura had developed for counteracting poisons. She felt Anko weakly grasp the pill and she shot to her feet, drawing a kunai as Sahiro ran through a series of hand-seals at blinding speed.

"Ninja Art. Mirror Clone Jutsu."


	17. Chapter 17 - Smoke And Mirrors

_Pandabot: It's been so long. I'm so sorry it's taken this long but I've been caught up trying to re-write some of the (slightly) later chapters and it's really dragging me down. On the brightside, I've decided to make it up to you with a double upload. So, yeah, enjoy etc._

* * *

**Chapter 17: Smoke And Mirrors**

_**Last time on Ino: Shippuden**_

_Ino glanced back at Anko, checking on her condition; she had thought that Anko was immune to poison. Sahiro, keeping that blank expression, spoke up,_

_"Too often," he said slowly, "A person's true enemy is themselves. Don't you agree, Ms. Yamanaka?" Ino frowned, watching him cautiously,_

So that's it. She isn't immune to her own snake's poison_. She reached into her pouch, horribly aware of Anko's breathing becoming ragged behind her; she slid backwards, careful to keep her eyes on the red-haired ninja in front of her._

_"Here, take this." She knelt and reached behind her, offering a special food pill that Sakura had developed for counteracting poisons. She felt Anko weakly grasp the pill and she shot to her feet, drawing a kunai as Sahiro ran through a series of hand-seals at blinding speed._

_"Ninja Art. Mirror Clone Jutsu."_

* * *

Ino starred with some trepidation as two mirrors rose from the ground. She was going to be hard-pressed to protect Anko and capture Sahiro; it might be best to pull back. She hesitated uncertainly, glancing back at Anko.

"Ninja Art! Reflective Eye Jutsu!"

_Shit_. Ino turned back to face the front as Sahiro set up his jutsu; she was going to have to keep the clones from getting to Anko. She flew through hand-seals,

"Water Style! Water Clone Jutsu!" The moment her clone formed, drawing a kunai, the two mirrors shattered and one of the clones threw itself forward, kunai in hand. Her own clone jumped forward and intercepted the mirror clone, the two smashing into each other and shattering.

Under the cover of falling glass and spraying water, Ino threw a barrage of shuriken, quickly following it up with an expertly placed kunai. The mirror clone blocked the shuriken but the kunai slipped through it's guard, impacting just under the heart and causing it to shatter too.

Ino leapt forward, drawing another kunai as Sahiro raised an eyebrow at the destruction of his clones. The red-haired ninja swung his short sword, meeting Ino's kunai with a ringing clash. She pivoted, twisting on her right foot and grabbing Sahiro's wrist to immobilize the sword. She continued her turn, using her elbow to deflect the strike that he aimed at her neck.

She squeezed his wrist expertly, forcing the sword from his hand and swinging her leg up. She thrust her leg into Sahiro's stomach, sending him flying backwards with a grunt. He rolled to his feet as he slid to a stop, flying through hand-seals. Ino scooped up the fallen sword before she leapt after him, trying to finish him now. Trying to keep Anko alive.

"Ninja Art! Huge Mirror Jutsu!"

Sahiro slammed his hands into the dirt, allowing a snarl to cross his features as he locked eyes with the rapidly approaching Ino. She drew back the blade to strike but the ground rumbled as a monstrous mirror erupted up from the ground. It was massive, at least five times her height and it reached from one side of the street to the other.

She struck at it with the beautiful blade in her left hand and almost dropped it as it vibrated horribly. She stepped back and stared up at the top of the mirror; she could get up there. Before she could, however, she glanced back down at her own reflection.

_What the-? _She watched in shock as another Ino stepped out from behind her own reflection and she glanced behind her. There was no-one else there. She looked back to her reflection and frowned as a third Ino stepped out from behind the first one.

_Oh, shit_. Another pair of Ino's stepped out from behind the first three, hefting their blades readily. This wasn't going to end well, she didn't have to be a Jounin to see that one; she had to get Anko out of here. She turned away and sprinted back to Anko who was struggling to get back to her feet, panting heavily.

Behind her, five of her copies leapt out of the mirror in a haze of shattering glass. She spun around, switching the short sword to her right hand and drawing a kunai with her left. A second later the first clone swung at her with the sword in it's hand, diving recklessly. Sliding her left foot forward, Ino ducked gracefully under the wild swing stabbing backhand with her kunai into the lead clone.

As part of the same movement, as the first clone shattered into a myriad of glittering fragments, she pivoted, swinging the sword around in low slash at the legs of one of the remaining four clones. There was the sound of more shattering glass and two more clones leapt at her.

Ino span and barely managed to block their attacks, straining desperately against her clones. With a patter of light-footed steps, the last clone, sword in hand, rushed past Ino, heading to the weakened Anko.

_Shit!_ Ino allowed the clone on her left side to push forward slightly, rolling her shoulder backwards before she suddenly twisted, effectively sliding away from the clone. She threw the kunai backhand, aimed at the final clone. In the same move she used her borrowed sword to slide the clone's blade over her and caught the clone by the wrist.

She forced the sword forward into the clone she had just slipped away from, stabbing her own sword into the neck of the clone she was holding. At the same moment, her thrown kunai slammed into the back of the clone that was sprinting at Anko and the three clones burst into glass.

Ino flinched away from the exploding glass, wincing as it cut into her hand. The sound of glass shattering turned her around to face Sahiro again as six more clones raced forward, erupting from the splintering mirror. Ino grimaced and flew through a flurry of hand seals, hampered slightly by the sword in her right hand.

"Water Style! Water Clone Jutsu!"

Her water clone leapt forward suicidally, destroying two of the mirror clones with lightning fast swipes of her kunai before it collided heavily with a third clone causing both to dissipate. Even as the clones were destroyed, Sahiro summoned a third incarnation of his Huge Mirror Jutsu, this time leaping atop it with the same blank expression.

Ino could feel his eyes, studying her, analyzing her, as she hefted the blade in her right hand and re-set her feet. She narrowed her eyes as she took a preparatory breath;

_Dammit, this guy's good_. There was a blurred flash of motion, a blindingly fast series of back and forth as the clones all reached Ino at once. Then, with a shout, Ino was sent off her feet, smashed backwards by a heavy kick from one of the clones. She flew into one of the shopfronts, a tea shop by the look of things, smashing the wood to pieces under the force of the kick.

At the same time, all three clones burst into shards, leaving only Anko lying before Sahiro's mirror, dust billowing from the shop. With a groan, a grunt of determination, she pushed herself to her feet, drawing a kunai and struggling to remain balanced. They were in serious trouble; Anko knew she was still too weak to fight anybody, never mind clones of Ino, a fellow Jounin.

Sahiro leapt down from the huge mirror, staring calmly at her as she struggled to stand. Behind him, fighting through blurred vision, Anko could just about make out the mirror replicating him like it had done with Ino; she had to come up with some sort of plan. If that mirror shattered they were both dead.

Sahiro barely moved as Anko threw a kunai desperately at the huge mirror. The kunai span away uselessly, not even leaving a scratch on the shining surface. And the clones kept multiplying.

_Shit_. The glass shattered and all of the Sahiro clones, all ten of them, stepped calmly out of the falling glass, identical blank expressions on their faces. With a jolt of dread, and a certain sense of resignation, Anko began to focus her chakra, focusing it through her limbs.

The shopfront exploded, wood and fabric flying out madly; even Sahiro allowed a tiny look of surprise to cross his face. As the dust cleared, Anko could make out the shape of Ino, long blonde hair falling loose across her back. She was knelt on one knee, head down in concentration; her right hand was encased in crackling lightning, left hand supporting the wrist.

_Chidori?!_ Anko knew that Ino had trained with Kakashi, he had talked about her enough times, but she didn't know that he had taught her that. She spun back to face the front; if she could get rid of the mirror clones, that would leave Sahiro open for the assassination jutsu and they could finish this.

Fuck taking him alive. If this kept up, he was going to kill them.

She forced herself to focus, struggling through a series of hand seals; this was all she could think of. She just hoped it caught them all.

"Ninja Art! Cobra Hunt Jutsu!" She placed her hand against the ground, remaining crouched as, one-by-one, snakes began to jump from the ground at the mirror clones.

_One, two, three_; Sahiro frowned at the sudden assault, placing his hands together; _six, seven, eight_. Anko winced at the chakra loss as she was forced to cut the jutsu short; at least she had gotten rid of the majority of the clones.

A blur of purple and blond blew past her, ruffling her hair with the speed of it's passage. Ino, hair streaming out behind her, right hand covered in lightning, dragging the sword along the ground with her left hand.

The blade flicked up and smashed through one of the mirror clones, the clone bursting into glass after Ino flew past her. The second clone hadn't even reacted by the time Ino reached it, tearing through it with her electrified hand; Sahiro was flying through hand seals.

A huge mirror rose from the ground just as Ino reached it, cutting her off from Sahiro. She planted her right hand into the glass, sliding to a stop as her hair fell around her.

Watching, Anko couldn't help but gape at her; since when had Ino been this good? She could remember the Chuunin exams when Naruto was still a genin and Ino had been involved. She had been weak, in over her head and, frankly, a little bit of a coward. She could just make out Ino's expression in the massive mirror; it was the same expression she had seen on Kakashi's face in dire moments. That intensity, the determination; she had changed.

The mirror cracked, spreading out from Ino's hand, buried in the glass, then, all of a sudden, the mirror shattered. With barely a heartbeat's hesitation, Ino lunged forward, diving through the falling glass, and buried the blade into Sahiro's chest.

Sahiro's face twisted in shock and pain as the sword sank into him; despite herself, Ino grinned savagely - _Got him_.

And Sahiro shattered.

_What?!_

"Foolish, little girl."

Ino whirled around in surprise, blonde hair fanning out behind her; she froze in shock. Sahiro had somehow made his way behind Anko, wrapping his arm around her neck.

And, as Ino's eyes widened in shock, he sank a kunai into her heart.

"ANKO!"


	18. Chapter 18 - Anko Mitarashi

_Pandabot: And here's the second part of the double upload. More notes at the bottom_

* * *

**Chapter 18: Anko Mitarashi**

_**Last Time on Ino: Shippuden**_

_Sahiro's face twisted in shock and pain as the sword sank into him; despite herself, Ino grinned savagely - _Got him_._

_And Sahiro shattered._

What?!

_"Foolish, little girl."_

_Ino whirled around in surprise, blonde hair fanning out behind her; she froze in shock. Sahiro had somehow made his way behind Anko, wrapping his arm around her neck._

_And, as Ino's eyes widened in shock, he sank a kunai into her heart._

_"ANKO!"_

* * *

_Thud thud thud thud._

"No, no, no. Please not again..."

_Thud thud thud thud._

"Not like Asuma...Not like Chouji..."

_Thud thud thud thud. Krrrrrrrgh._

Ino slid to a stop, feeling the dirt tear into her legs as she slid on her knees. She immediately began to channel chakra into her hands, holding them over Anko's blood-stained chest. Her heart was pounding, breath barely forcing it's way past the lump in her throat.

_Please...Don't die on me._

"D-don't waste..." Anko coughed, her whole body jerking under the effort, blood exploding from her mouth, joining the precious fluid dripping from her mouth.

"Don't waste your chakra," she forced out, past gritted teeth, "Stay alive." Ino ignored her, forcing more chakra through her palms, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. She wasn't going to let Anko die like Asuma had - slowly, painfully. She wasn't going to let Anko die the way Chouji had - alone and abandoned. She was _not_ going to let her die.

"Ino, stop." The coughed, barely audible command halted her efforts for a moment, her sky-blue eyes locking with Anko's. Tears, the tears she had been struggling to hold back, sprang to her eyes, blurring her vision.

"I can't let you die," she forced out, moving her hands back over Anko's chest. The experienced jounin shuddered as Ino poured chakra into her; she could feel her curse mark activating.

_Of course! That's it!_

"I-Ino," she forced out, gritting her teeth against the burning in her neck, "I need more chakra. Everything you have." Ino frowned at the sudden change in her demands, tearing her eyes away to watch Sahiro. He had slipped away, keeping his distance as he watched Ino waste her chakra on a lost cause.

"You must know that she cannot be saved, Miss Yamanaka." Ino glared at him, defiantly pouring chakra into Anko's bleeding chest. After a moment he tilted his head in confusion,

"It was my understanding that shinobi were logical. Emotionless. Why do you waste your chakra?" Anko tapped weakly on Ino's wrist, subtly grabbing her attention,

"Keep him talking," she whispered. Ino glanced down at her, careful to avoid looking at the blood still spilling from her chest; _Does she have a plan?_

"How do you know I'm wasting my chakra?" she said aloud, trying to sound confident, assured. Sahiro made a quiet noise,

"I do not have to be a medical shinobi to know that she is dead. Now come! Let me test my kekkei genkai on you once again!" There was a long pause as Ino glared at him, forcing as much chakra as she could into Anko's chest. Finally Sahiro sighed, placing his hands together,

"So illogical. You have forced me into attacking, Miss Yamanaka." Unsure if she had given Anko enough time for whatever it was that she was planning, Ino interrupted,

"I just have one question." As Sahiro paused she locked eyes with him,

"How do you know my name? Why am I being targeted?" He tilted his head again, a mild expression of amusement crossing his face,

"That was two questions, Miss Yamanaka. But let it not be said that I do not indulge my test subjects."

"To answer your first question, I know the names of many shinobi. Your name, however, was...shall we say, brought to my attention." Ino glared at him darkly,

"What the _hell_ do you mean by that?" He merely stared at her with that tiny amused smile; it was almost indulgent.

"So full of questions," he mumbled, apparently to himself. After a moment of thinking, he gave a small grunt,

"To answer your second question, you attacked me did you not? I would not say that is equal to being targeted." Ino frowned uncertainly, locking eyes with him, noticing for the first time the ring of red in his green eyes.

"You aren't hunting me? What are you up to?" she ventured carefully, aware of Anko shifting underneath her. All at once, the amusement disappeared from his face.

"Too many questions!" he snarled, displaying real anger for only the second time. His hands blurred as he flew through seals with that scary pace again.

"Ninja Art! Mirror's Edge Jutsu!" His entire body spasmed for a second as glass crawled over his arm, forming itself into a makeshift blade. Ino started to rise, reaching back to draw a kunai when Anko's hand flashed out and caught her wrists, pressing her hands against the side of her neck.

Sahiro stepped sideways, onto a large shard of mirror that lay on the ground. He disappeared from sight, seeming to fall through the glass; she was about to pull her hands away from Anko's neck when a pulse of horrific chakra came from the wounded Jounin. _What the hell was that?_

In a flash of movement so fast that Ino didn't even see her move, Anko was gone from the ground and had intercepted Sahiro's sneak attack from behind Ino's kneeling position.

Her neck and all of the visible skin on her body was covered in black patterns similar to thick veins; the last time she had seen this, it was on Uchiha. The curse mark of Orochimaru.

Anko had caught Sahiro's free hand and formed a seal with their joined hands, the other hand had turned the glass blade away effortlessly, holding it in place.

"It's time to die," Anko spoke and she sounded so...unlike herself. Her voice was deep and terrifying; it was like she was possessed. Evil chakra pulsed from Anko, washing over Ino and turning her stomach at the feeling. She hadn't remembered the traitor's chakra feeling so..._wrong_. Anko grinned like a corpse, blood still leaking from her body and mouth;

"Ninja Art! Twin Snake Sacrifice Jutsu!" Ino's eyes widened in shock; _That jutsu?!_

"Anko, no!" The jounin looked back at Ino for a second, her eyes softening slightly, becoming more human,

"He was right, Ino. Once my curse seal wears off, I'm dead." Two snakes exploded from Anko's sleeve, wrapping tightly around the joined pair. They wrapped tightly around each of the victims, weaving and diving, and then bit into each of their necks, anchoring themselves in place.

Anko had turned back to eye Sahiro and tilted her head, welcoming the snake's bite; there was a look of grim acceptance on her face.

Sahiro was struggling against Anko's iron grip, grimacing in pain as the snake ducked under his chin to latch onto his neck.

Almost as an afterthought, Anko stamped her right foot, sending a small wave of earth spreading out from the impact. Ino was knocked forward as Anko held Sahiro tightly in place. She fought back the rising tears as she scrambled to her feet; she could take a hint.

_Stupid, brave Anko._

As she leapt up to the roof, she turned back just in time to see hundreds of smaller snakes explode from Anko's sleeve and wrap around the pair so that every inch of skin was covered in a writhing cocoon.

There was a beat of silence.

The snake covered pair exploded, each of the snakes becoming a living bomb. Ino was knocked backwards by the force of the explosion, the heat forcing her to turn her face away. If she hadn't have been in shock, she would have noticed the tears she had been holding back finally begin to fall, streaming down her face.

But she was and so she didn't; it wasn't every day you watched a comrade die.

* * *

_Pandabot: Well, shit. This arc killed me to write 'cos I love Anko. Not as much as I love Ino but Anko's pretty awesome. She was just one of the few characters that could die without me having to re-work something later on. There will probably be a little bit of a backlash from this; I hope not but y'know. Feel free to express your hatred for this turn of events. Also, if you have any questions about the story, the characters etc, feel free to drop a review or give me a PM. Peace out._


	19. Chapter 19 - Weak

_Pandabot: Once again, sorry for the delay. I've actually been spending the time completely re-writing the next few chapters because I changed my mind about how I wanted to do this story. I really didn't want to upload this one until I was sure that what I was doing next was working so I just held off for a while. But you know the drill, read and review etc and a new chapter should be up in the next few days.  
Also, everyone who's been loving how badass Ino has been, prepare to see her a little more vulnerable_

* * *

**Chapter 19: Weak**

"Back again?" He didn't even turn at the familiar voice,

"How is she doing?" The pair looked through the small window in the door at the sleeping form, laid so carefully under the sheets.

"She's...getting better." The hesitation didn't escape his notice and he turned to give the older woman a quizzical look.

"It's suprising that she's taking it so hard. Were her and Anko even friends?" Tsunade asked. He shrugged.

"Who knows what's ever going on with her?" he said quietly, almost to himself.

"I've got work to do. Don't hang around too long Naruto, she'll sense you there eventually."

* * *

It was quiet. Only the faint rustling of the large tree outside her window could be heard, the leaves rustling in the warm breeze. Sun streamed in the window, lighting the room with a warm, yellow glow. The room was comfortable, if not homely; the bed in particular was soft and yielding, just how she liked it.

Her sharp ears picked up the sound of a door closing softly and a group of footsteps beginning to move down the hall. She sighed, settling deeper into the bed and wincing as her ribs twinged painfully. She had badly broken them when she had been kicked into the wall of the tea store; they still hadn't healed properly.

The footsteps slowed as they neared her door and she sighed again; no doubt the questions were about to begin again. She was sick of it, sick of reliving the same moments over and over again. Sick of reliving the moment that Anko died.

She could hear a soft, female voice talking quietly; it sounded like she was giving some last-minute medical instructions. Maybe she could feign sleep.

The moment the door opened however, all thoughts of feigning sleep were forgotten. In bounced Kazuki with Yomiko in tow, both carrying the largest bouquet of flowers Ino had ever seen.

"Hey! Hey, Ino-sensei! You're back!" Kana slipped into the room behind the others, leaning against the wall next to the doorway. She caught Ino's eye with an amused expression as Kazuki bounced around the room with the huge bouquet, practically dragging Yomiko around the room.

"Kazuki, relax. This is a hospital" Ino said with amusement. Sometimes he reminded her of Naruto; his insane energy and his weirdly positive outlook on everything. All the time. He made an effort to calm down, he really did, forcing himself to stay in place.

"It's good to see you again, Ino-sensei" Yomiko said shyly, poking her head out from behind the massive collection of flowers. Ino returned her smile,

"It's good to see you guys too, Yomiko. Why don't you put that bouquet down on the table over there?" She motioned over near the window where a long table lay in the sun. She caught Kana's eye again as the pair lugged the flowers over to the window; just a small, genuine smile. It was all that was needed; Kana was glad she was back too.

"So," Ino began, "who ended up training you guys when I was gone?" She knew the answer before she heard it by the expression on Kazuki's face, that explosive excitement about to boil over.

"It was Naruto! He's so awesome, sensei! He's super powerful!" Ino gave him an indulgent smile,

"Sounds like you had fun" she commented.

"Yeah, yeah!" Ino caught the eye of her little dark-haired genin,

"What about you, Yomiko? Did you learn much?" She hesitated uncertainly, brushing her hair away from face. Finally, she took a breath and spoke slowly,

"I don't know, sensei. I-I guess I learned a little." Ino nodded; she wasn't suprised by that. Yomiko and Naruto had two very different styles of fighting and Naruto wasn't exactly the type to think too much. She turned her gaze onto Kana,

"And you? He tell you anything worth knowing?" The blonde genin shrugged nonchalantly,

"Yeah, I guess. He told me some stuff about air compression that was pretty interesting. I might be able to use it to create some kind of new jutsu."

Well, that was a surprise. She hadn't expected Kana to learn anything from Naruto, never mind admit it. Though they did have the same chakra nature so it probably shouldn't have been a surprise. Ino let her suprise through for a second,

"Seriously? You actually learnt something from Naruto?" Kana frowned in confusion,

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ino tried to backtrack, holding a hand out consolingly,

"Nothing. I was just suprised you put up with him, that's all." Kana eyed Ino suspiciously for a second before pouting and looking away out of the window. Ino laughed, she was so predictable.

"Hey, Ino-sensei! What happened on your mission? How did you get all beat up?" Immediately all of the humour disappeared from the room as Kazuki put his foot in it once again. Ino lay back and stared up at the ceiling; all pleasure at the sight of her team vanished into thin air.

She could barely even remember making it back to the Leaf Village, limping along with badly broken ribs, a charred Leaf headband dangling limply from her hand. She had stumbled along in a blank haze, barely acknowledging the people around her; she didn't even remember if she stopped to sleep.

When she stumbled into sight of the Leaf Village there had been instant uproar, questions coming in from all directions. It was only Shizune's timely arrival that had resulted in Ino being whisked away to the hospital where she had spent the last week.

Apparently she had been in shock for the first few days, barely responsive to the constant questions and attention. It wasn't until Tsunade came to see her and demanded answers in her typically violent fashion that she became responsive.

"Sensei?" Ino snapped back to the present, shaking her head slightly to clear it. Kazuki and Yomiko were looking at her uncertainly, Kana trying to look as though she wasn't doing the same.

"Sorry, I kind of drifted off there" she said with a small smile. Kazuki exchanged concerned glances with Yomiko before he ventured to speak up again,

"Sensei? What happened on your mission?" Ino sighed as she looked away, staring at the rustling leaves outside her window,

"We failed. We couldn't capture the target and..." She trailed off a frown marring her features. Kana pushed herself off the wall with a soft grunt,

"I heard that some Jounin died." Ino shot her a look; _where the hell did she hear that?_

"Her name was Anko Mitarashi. And yes...she died." There was a long, awful silence as Kazuki stared at her in horror and Yomiko averted her eyes, hiding behind her fringe. Ino clenched her teeth, looking away from her little genin;

_Kami, they probably think I'm a failure_.

"No way..." Kazuki breathed quietly. Ino preoccupied herself studying the flowers they had bought her; _I wonder if they know what that bouquet means?_

"But...Ino-sensei..._you_ were there. How could she have died if you were there?" There was really no answer to Kazuki's question; how do you tell a genin that you can't protect them from everything? She remained staring at the flowers, unable to look him in the eyes,

"Kazuki, I...I tried to but..." She was stopped short as another voice interrupted, lazy and preoccupied.

"From what your sensei told us, they were outmatched. She did as much as she could." Ino turned her head with surprise, and just a hint of dread, as she recognised the voice of the legendary Copy-Nin. Kakashi Hatake.

He caught her eye with his own, half-lidded and unaffected, while he addressed her team. For once, his precious Icha Icha book was nowhere in sight, hands stuffed into his pockets.

"Do you mind if I speak with Ino alone? We need to talk about some...things." Her team exchanged glances with each other uncertainly before, at a nod from Kana, they made to leave.

Only Yomiko looked back with a small, encouraging smile.

There was a long, horrible pause as Ino forced herself to hold eye contact with Kakashi, the man who had prepared her for life as a Jounin.

"Kakashi-sensei, I am...I'm so sorry. I couldn't save her." There was another, shorter pause as he stared at her from the doorway, his normal eye studying her closely, analyzing her. Finally his eye softened and he stepped into the room,

"Anko was a proud ninja of the Leaf Village. If she was going to go, this is probably how she would want it." He seemed so calm, he always did, but Ino was sure that he and Anko, aside from being lovers, had been more serious than they had appeared. Surely, _surely_, he had to be taking it hard.

"Kakashi...you don't have to pretend..." she said softly. He tilted his head slightly and blinked slowly,

"Hm?" Ino frowned at him, sitting up in the hospital bed,

"Are you really that heartless?" she snapped angrily. He seemed to raise an eyebrow, sometimes it was hard to tell, at her sudden anger as he stood over her bed.

"Have I ever given you the impression that I was heartless?" he asked cryptically. Ino, having trained with him for close to two years, was fully aware of how much importance he placed on the lives of his comrades. She also knew of how long he had held onto the hope of saving Sasuke, his student.

Of course he wasn't heartless.

She didn't say anything, merely looked away from the experienced Jounin and back out of the window.

"Ino, I haven't come here to blame you for Anko's death. It wasn't your fault." She didn't look back at him, merely staring out of the window as she answered,

"Then why are you here?" He sighed heavily,

"I was worried about you. You're one of my students." Ino turned to meet his gaze again, suprised to see that special smile only he could give with his visible eye. Ino smiled,

"Thanks, Kakashi."

* * *

Making her way to the funeral ceremony had been the first time Ino had been out of bed in a week. It had been the first time she had seen anyone aside from the hospital staff, the Hokage and a couple of the Jounin from the Leaf Village. And her team.

Garbed in the traditional black kimono, she walked quietly through the streets of Konoha, avoiding eye contact. She kept her gaze focused on the path in front of her, sliding unobtrusively past the other patrons of the Leaf Village.

Was she to blame for Anko's death? No.

Did she feel like she was? Yes.

Even though, deep down, she knew that barely anyone from the village knew about the mission in Kirigakure, she knew that most people didn't even know Anko was dead, she slunk through her home like a criminal.

She was also dreading the reception she would get at the funeral - just because Kakashi hadn't blamed her, it didn't mean others wouldn't. However unfair the blame would be, it was human nature.

It was while she was mulling this over that she bumped into a warm, solid body. She instinctively glanced up to see who she had walked into and immediately looked away as she recognised the expressionless face of one of her closest friends.

Shikamaru had never been good at expressing emotion, a fact epitomised by the way he had just not shown up to Asuma's funeral, but he knew just how much this would have damaged Ino's weakened psyche. He knew that she would blame herself, knew that she would equate it to losing Asuma and Chouji, knew that now she would throw herself into her work.

So he hugged her for only the second time in his life, pulling her close. He knew she would cry onto his shoulder, knew she _had_ to cry onto his shoulder; she had always been more fragile than he was. When Chouji had died at the end of the war she had all but lost herself, shutting out the outside world.

So together they stood in the middle of the street and Ino cried, her body shaking as the stress and the guilt and the fear and the self-loathing came bubbling to the surface. He didn't say anything, didn't need to say anything; hell, there _was_ nothing to say. He just let her cry, let her try to find some kind of release - it was all he could do.

She gripped onto the front of his vest, clenching her teeth as her face screwed up in pain, struggling to remain at least partly in control. She was a mess, and she knew it.

_Weak, weak, weak._ It became a chant in her head, berating her inability to seperate her emotions from her work like the other Jounin. Shikamaru never let his emotions get the better of him like this, Kakashi never did, Kurenai was always calm and unaffected. It was only her, only Ino Yamanaka, who was weak.


End file.
